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The new Ellyon multi-mission platform integrates multiple payloads for Electronic Warfare, SIGINT and ISTAR roles.

Israel’s state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has unveiled a new airborne platform offering combined Electronic Warfare (EW) and Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities, called Ellyon. The platform integrates the different payloads into a “new generation multi-mission […] unified airborne platform,” the Jul. 20, 2026 press release from the company said.

Illustrative videos released with the announcement showed a Ellyon aircraft, based on a modified business jet, undertaking combined Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and ISTAR roles. The video also shows among the capabilities Communications Jamming (COMJAM), wide spectrum Electronic Attack, jamming of ground-based air-defense (AD) radars and the use of optical sensors to identify ground targets and conduct battle-damage assessment.

IAI said an “Artificial Intelligence-based multimission management system” fuses the data from these sensors and transmits them to friendly assets over data links and satellite-based Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) communications. It is unclear which market or customer IAI plans to target with Ellyon.

IAI Ellyon

The aircraft has a large bulbous nose, as well as prominent conformal fairings on the sides of the fuselage. Antenna blades seen running across the spine and the underside are usually associated with encrypted radio communications across various bands frequencies, and the Communications Intelligence (COMINT) role.

The tail has a large ‘sting’, possibly housing additional sensors. An unusual payload is a sharp, faceted-nose fairing on the ventral side, almost looking like a detachable podded system.

The sensor is housed underneath a two-part air inlet, likely related to the cooling system for the electronics, with the bottom of the sensor housing what appears to be a fixed optical camera. It is unclear if the fairing hosts a radar array.

Screengrab showing the highly faceted array on the ventral side, attached underneath two air intakes. | Source: IAI

IsAF special mission aircraft fleet

The Israeli Air Force’s 122 Squadron “Nachshon” at Nevatim airbase currently operates six SIGINT, Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) and ISTAR aircraft. Three are the Gulfstream V-based ‘Shavit’ SIGINT planes, supporting the Special Electronic Mission Aircraft (SEMA) role thanks to Elta’s EL/I-3001 sensor, carried in a ventral canoe-like fairing, that offers Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging.

The others are two G550-based ‘Eitam’ CAEW aircraft, carrying Elta’s EL/W-2085 radar, and the G550-based ‘Oron’, that the Israeli Air Force received in 2021 and combines both the SIGINT and ISTAR role.  Eitam hosts in the conformal fairings the EL/M-2085 AESA radar, which offers a 360 coverage for detecting airborne targets.

An Israeli Air Force ‘Shavit’ SEMA aircraft on Jun. 28, 2016. | Source: Oren Rozen on Wikimedia Commons

The Oron, according to a Apr. 4, 2021 Ynet report that quoted the then head of Israel MoD’s Research and Development Brig. Gen Yaniv Rotem, can simultaneously “monitor enemy activities and launches from Syria and Lebanon [and] Gaza Strip,” while flying for eight to nine hours at altitudes of 30-40,000 feet. The aircraft also has visual intelligence (VISINT) capabilities, apart from ELINT and COMINT systems, which Rotem said can operate in all weather conditions “identifying thousands of targets simultaneously.”

Ynet further quoted then IAI vice president Yoav Turgeman, who called the Oron “a plane with monstrous capabilities.” He further added that, “Unlike those […] primarily involved in air control […] the new plan with its unique radar will focus on holding territory with high throughput and good resolution, receiving a lot of data from enemy territory” and using AI will transfer it in real time for attack. 

According to IAI, ISTAR aircraft are “airborne intelligence and ground-control aircraft for wide-area surveillance, based on AESA Synthetic Aperture Radar and Ground Moving Target Indication (SAR/GMTI) radar technology, SIGINT systems (ELINT and COMINT), communications, and self-protection systems, all integrated into a unified system.”

A Gulfstream V Shavit and a G550 Eitam conformal AEW aircraft of the 122nd Squadron over Nevatim airbase on May 12, 2016 during Israel’s 68th Independence Day flypast. | Source: Oren Rozen on Wikimedia Commons

IAI also mentions here that the Ellyon is based on the Bombardier Global 6500. This platform is considered an ideal carrier aircraft, with a wide popularity for modified special mission aircraft.

Ellyon payload and capabilities

IAI said Ellyon features an Elta AESA wideband standoff jammer which uses “multibeam technology” and “emits independent electronically steered beams to simultaneously perform RADARJAM on multiple aerial and ground targets.” It also has a multi-mode AESA that can be used in “strip and spot” air-to-ground (SAR, GMTI), air-to-sea and air-to-air modes.

The mention of “air-to-air mode” means the Ellyon can practically double up as an AEW aircraft. AESA radars can be used in multiple modes simultaneously, which is a massive boost to the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the aircraft.

The Israeli Air Force’s Oron multi-intelligence aircraft. | Source: IDF/Amit Agronov

The “high‑sensitivity COMINT and ELINT suites” on the Ellyon can “intercept, locate and record enemy communications and emitters” to construct an Electronic Order of Battle (EOB), IAI added. Advanced COMJAM systems disrupt enemy communications, while a high resolution, multi spectral long-range EO/IR payload supports target identification and classification.

Israeli Air Force Gulfstream G550 Nachshon Shavit (684) making surveillance mission between #Egypt and #Cyprus pic.twitter.com/J0y9dlZFXc

— itamilradar (@ItaMilRadar) May 20, 2019

A variety of communications and networking suites include secure HF/VHF/UHF radios, tactical datalink, wideband Line of Sight (LOS) and SATCOM communications. The Mission Management System (MMS) and sensor fusion capabilities are supported by AI and Machine Learning (ML) tools to “process vast quantities of sensor data while minimizing crew workload.”

IAI added that Ellyon also supports aerial manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) with UAVs. IAI’s chairman of the board Boaz Levy said the Ellyon continues the company’s “legacy by integrating advanced intelligence collection, Electronic Attack and AI-driven mission management into a single platform.”