Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Elbit Systems
- Origin / production countries
- Israel
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Skylark I-LEX; earlier Skylark I / I-LE data require dated configuration
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Supplier information is attributed; performance and operational acceptance require configuration-specific evidence.
Skylark I-LEX is Elbit’s portable electric reconnaissance aircraft. The manufacturer identifies it as an evolution of Skylark I and describes a stabilised day/night imaging payload and airbag recovery. Its current technical values belong to the I-LEX baseline.
The supplier cites wider family use by numerous international customers. That heritage does not provide an exact operator list for every I-LEX configuration, nor does it prove that older Skylark I aircraft shared the current mass, sensors or communications equipment. The legacy designation is retained for discovery without collapsing all generations into one specification.
The forty-kilometre value is a line-of-sight communication range. Flight duration, maximum altitude and payload figures require their own configuration context. This profile provides a current manufacturer baseline, while keeping named fleet quantities and customer-specific acceptance separate from broad deployment claims.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Portable fixed wing | I-LEX baseline. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Airbag-assisted recovery | Launch method not established by this source. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Electric | Current product page. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 7.5 kg take-off weight | Supplier baseline. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Up to 3 hours | Maximum claim. Source ↗ |
| Range | 40 km line-of-sight communications | Not flight-path distance. Source ↗ |
| Speed | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | 15,000 ft service ceiling | Supplier claim. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Stabilised day/night imaging | Installed payload may vary. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source ↗ |
Publication history
- — Added in the September 2026 global coverage review, with sources, configuration limits and explicit data gaps.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.