Airport City (Israel) (AFP)

"What did you do before the drones, I was in the army, and you in intelligence?" Faced with competition from China and the United States, Israel benefits from the experience of its military at the borders to establish itself as a superpower of remote-controlled aircraft.

One drone sprays tear gas on Palestinian protesters, another scans Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, a third lightning strike of Islamic Jihad sites in the Gaza Strip: in Israel, drones are a daily tool of military border management .

This strategic industry is run by army alumni and security services, becoming CEOs, founders, engineers and board members of the more than 50 local start-ups in the sector.

As early as 1969, the Israeli army used a model of a remote controlled aircraft equipped with a camera, to spy on neighboring Egypt, before launching a vast program during the Lebanon war.

Today, Israel is flying over the world drone market, despite the growing competition from China and the United States. The small country plays its "advantage": enemies at its borders and therefore a sandbox to test and develop its remote control technology.

Ronen Nadir was a commander, in charge of the development of missiles in the Israeli army. Launched in the early 2000s, its start-up, BlueBird Aero Systems, today sells combat drones around the world.

It prides itself on being in the vanguard of the "V-Tol", small vertical take-off and landing drones, like helicopters, with wings for speed.

They can take off or land in the city, in a jungle, or on the deck of a boat.

"From the first idea, a sketch on a piece of paper, to the presentation in front of a customer, it only took four and a half months," he told AFP. "We started the development in October 2018 and we have already sold hundreds."

- Top of the ranking -

"When an American company develops a mini-drone, this system is used in Iraq or Afghanistan, and from device development to use in a conflict zone, you need a few years," says Nadir.

"In Israel, everyone (in the industry) is a former soldier or army officer, and the engineers who create these systems are themselves reservists, so they come back to the office with fresh data, which reduces the development cycle ".

A study, cited by local authorities, places Israel as the largest exporter of drones. But his data goes back to 2013.

Recently, the United States has outstripped its Israeli ally by exporting their Global Hawk, a high-performance and more expensive drone, and Predators, sold in particular on the European market.

Yet, in the face of competition from China selling to "countries Israel does not sell," the Jewish state "certainly remains in the top-3, or even the top-2" world, says Philip Finnegan, head of market analysis at the American firm Teal Group.

The ranking of Israeli companies in this market is difficult because "they are very secretive about what they sell and to whom, as are indeed the Chinese," he told AFP.

- From bombs to crops -

Recently, at a conference on Israeli drones in Airport City, an industrial area near Tel Aviv airport, a generally discreet guest sneaked between the kiosks, magnetizing the cameras: Nadav Argaman, chief of Shin Bet , the internal intelligence services.

His message was clear: "We are buying Israeli technologies first and foremost."

"We must always be ahead (on our enemies) to stay alive," said Zohar Dvir, former police chief, who has served as a local press inspiration to the Israeli super cop played by Adam Sandler in You do not mess with the Zohan ".

Today, he is on the board of directors of the start-up "Gold drone", specializing among other things in agricultural drones ... Because several companies now transfer their military experience to civilian life.

The global UAV market is currently around $ 12 billion, but is expected to reach $ 25 billion by 2029, according to the firm Teal, for which devices for civilian use will exceed those for military purposes.

"The best opportunities are in the agricultural sector (...): collect data in the fields, spray pesticides, pollinate or even harvest," said Ben Alfi, former Israeli aviation now CEO of the company BWR Robotics, specialized in agricultural drones.

"When it comes to efficient engineering systems ... Israel is on top," he told AFP, noting with irony that the country has not had the same success in the automobile: " The last car we tried to build 40 years ago was fiberglass and was eaten by a camel. "

© 2019 AFP