The Skylark surveillance drone, a propeller-powered unmanned spy plane, is designed and built by Elbit Systems in Haifa, Israel, and remains popular with IDF forces to carry out reconnaissance missions in occupied Palestinian territories.
The crash marks the sixth in 2017 alone, as noted by the Jerusalem Post.
IDF officials stated that the most recent crash occurred inside occupied territories of the West Bank during a raid to arrest various Palestinians, but a military statement also observed that the Skylark was returned by Palestinian residents living inside the zone where the drone fell.
The Skylark, at about seven feet in length, is the smallest of the family of IDF drones, and it is also the most popular, as it is launched by hand and easily assembled and transported.
The increase in the IDF's use of the inexpensive and, some say, disposable spy UAV has contributed to an uptick in the incidences of malfunctions and defects, noted Ynet.news.
Elbit Systems has not released an official statement on the consistent failures of their product, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Israeli company is primarily concerned with developing leading-edge technologies for the purposes of supporting the military and security infrastructure of the country, as well as selling its wares to armies and police forces around the world.
A for-profit, publicly traded company on NASDAQ, Elbit Systems has been boycotted and seen several high-profile divestments from its stock due to the firm's focus on weapons and surveillance technologies used by the IDF to police Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
