The IDF’s new combined-arms Refaim (Ghost) Unit completed its first major exercise last week, in a demonstration overseen by IDF chief of staff Lt General Aviv Kochavi. A video of the exercise gives a glimpse of an unusual new drone: a quadcopter which flips over and sticks to a vertical wall and hangs there, before flying off and leaving an object still attached.

(credit: IDF)

The Ghost Unit was formed in January to develop innovative tactics, combining infantry with combat engineers, attack helicopters, drones, and robotics. The unit tested “breakthrough capabilities that were developed in collaboration with a number of defense contractors,” according to an IDF statement.

(credit: IDF)

The role of this ‘Spiderman’ drone is not explained or described. In the same video sequence, troops use a DJI Mavic, a low-cost consumer drone, to scout ahead in urban alleyways. IDF infantry has been using Mavics since 2017 as an alternative to expensive military drones, but the new drone is something else.

Read more: Forbes