IAI / Rafael Delilah
Country: 
IsraelManufacturer: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) / Rafael
Jet-powered cruise missile / loitering munition developed by IAI and produced with Rafael: 250 km range, man-in-the-loop control and abort/re-attack capability.
Jet-powered cruise missile / loitering munition developed by IAI and produced with Rafael: 250 km range, man-in-the-loop control and abort/re-attack capability.
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- IAI / Rafael Delilah
- Alias
- Delilah AL / GL / SL
- Manufacturer
- Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) / Rafael
- Country
- Israel
- Year
- 1994
- Category
- Loitering munition
- Class
- Tactical (< 600 kg)
- Status
- In service
Performance
- Range
- 250 km
- Endurance
- Fino a 30 min
- Top speed
- Mach 0.85 (≈ 1000 km/h)
- Service ceiling
- 8,500 m
- Propulsion
- Turbojet TRI 60-5 (≈ 175 kgf)
Physical characteristics
- MTOW
- 187 kg
- Payload
- 30 kg
- Hardpoints
- 0
- Weapons
- Testata HE/frammentazione 30 kg (varianti AL aria-terra)
Onboard systems
- Sensors
- EO/IR CCD + datalink man-in-the-loop, GPS/INS
- Datalink / control
- Datalink BLOS via aereo madre o ripetitore, controllo human-in-the-loop fino all'impatto
- Launch
- Aria-superficie (F-16, F-15), terra (camion) o nave
- Recovery
- Impatto sul bersaglio (può ri-attaccare se manca il target)
Combat use
- ▸Second Lebanon War (2006)
- ▸IAF operations in Syria
- ▸Israeli strikes in Syria (2013-present)
- ▸Gaza operations (2014, 2021, 2023-2024)
- ▸Operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah
Tags
Main operators
History
Conceived in the late 1980s as an aerial target, the Delilah was converted into a precision weapon operational with the IAF from 1994 in the AL (air-to-ground) and GL (ground-to-ground) variants.
Used by the IAF in counter-SAM operations in Lebanon and Syria, it is regarded as one of the forerunners of the long-range 'loitering missile' category.
The Delilah was developed in the late 1980s as a target drone for air-defence training but was quickly converted into a cruise/loitering missile thanks to its excellent combination of range (250 km) and payload (30 kg).
It exists in an air-launched version from IAF F-16 fighters and a surface-to-surface version, with the GPS/INS system and terminal EO/IR seeker making it one of the world's most sophisticated precision long-range strike weapons.
The Delilah has been used in numerous Israeli operations in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, and is also the subject of intense cooperation with India, which produces it under licence in an anti-radar SEAD variant.