Scout and Mastiff UAVs were widely used by the Israeli Air Force to suppress Syrian air defense assets. These UAVs were very small, with a wingspan of only 3.6 meters; the Scout was only 3.51 meters long and 0.64 meters high; they were also made of fiberglass, which was transparent to RF radiation. Consequently, enemy radars were difficult to detect and locate and thus were able to penetrate enemy airspace with minimal risk of casualties. For this reason, they were ideally suited for the battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance task. To accomplish this task, some modifications were equipped with a TV camera with magnifying lenses and a communications system capable of transmitting a continuous stream of images of enemy positions to the dispatcher on the ground. Other modifications were equipped with RF reflectors that reflected radar radiation of such intensity as if it were strike aircraft. Others acted as vehicles for the DSTR system (ESM), intercepting and analysing the radiation from enemy radars and relaying it to ground stations or aircraft in the air.
Typical tactics are to search for and defeat Syrian SAM system positions by Israeli strike aircraft. One UAV (A1) carries a TV camera that provides optical reconnaissance of SAM positions; another UAV (A2) emits signals that make Syrians believe that a tiny, fibreglass made aircraft is an Israeli jet aircraft (A3). The Syrians, including their radar-controlled weapon systems, allowed the UAV to receive a spectrum of radiation from the radar and transmit that information to the E-2C command and control aircraft, which directed Israeli strike aircraft to engage SAMs (B) positions.
The firing radar was destroyed by both air-to-surface missiles fired from F-4 Phantom (C) aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles (E). Attackers defended themselves by ejection of submarines (D) and infrared traps to disrupt their capture of the escort radar and infrared GSN missiles. After disabling the radars, SAM systems were destroyed by cluster bombs from F-15 and F-16 aircraft.