Working out of an undisclosed site in Israel in 24/7 shifts, Major D and his team have been conducting strikes on Iranian ballistic missile sites since the war started last week.
The Israeli Air Force officer commands a drone team that has been striking Iranian missile launchers, stockpiles and the regime's air defences. He told GB News that for him, this war is personal.
“This operation … will remove a threat on Israel, but (also) personally on the future of my kid," he said. “We see the ballistic missile threat as a threat against each one’s family and the future of my family. Hopefully this operation will remove the threat for many years or forever.”
Working in a team of three, with a pilot, commander and weapons operator, Major D has been striking ballistic missile silos and launchers. He said: “I’ve been preparing for this moment for about 18 years.”
As a reservist, Major D also works with drones in his civilian career. Throughout his time in the IDF, the officer has been preparing the UAV technology and also the operational tactics required to successfully neuter the Iranian regime’s missile systems.
The officer is part of Squadron 200, which flies the Heron-1 (“Shoval”) UAV, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, which the IDF says is used for intelligence gathering, surveillance, support of ground forces, and precision strike missions. With the ability to linger high in the sky as the IDF expands its air supremacy, Major D’s team operations are often focused on observing Iranian enemy movements and preparing for future strikes, gathering crucial intelligence from above.
The IDF has come under heavy criticism for the civilian death toll in its war in Gaza against Hamas following the October 7 massacre. The Hamas terror group relies on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, to protect its fighters and weaponry.
But in Iran, Major D insisted the targets were much easier to destroy, saying: “This is not a war with a terror organisation. This is a war with an army. Usually, most of them are not in civilian areas, even though we’ve seen some of these as well.”
'Hopefully this operation will remove the threat for many years or forever,' Major D told GB News
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Major D is part of Squadron 200, which flies the Heron-1 UAV, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries
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Asked about the legal process required to sign off on strikes, the IDF officer said: “It’s a target, it’s going to kill people in Israel or in other countries, and we destroy it before or after it does.” GB News also asked the officer how he felt about colleagues in the IAF targeting Iranian oil infrastructure while he was striking missiles.
Targeting energy infrastructure such as oil fields, which plunged Tehran under thick and toxic clouds on Sunday, will prove controversial with many allied militaries. US and Israeli officials told Axios the strikes on the Iranian fuel depots went “far beyond” what the Pentagon expected when Israel notified Washington in advance of the attacks in what is considered the first major split between the allies since the start of the conflict.
“I look at it as if it is an orchestra,” Major D said, adding: “Some of the targets are pinpoints, rocket launchers, ground-to-air missiles, and some of them are things that are meant to disabled the enemy’s way of funding the war, and that’s part of the orchestra.”
The People's Channel pressed the drone operator on if he was concerned about how a “war from the air” might negatively change minds on the ground against the US-Israeli intervention. He said: “As a UAV operator, I can tell you that I feel very connected to the people of the country we fly over. We see them more than a fighter jet or other types of airplanes. We see how they behave and I must say that I’m glad to see when I’m flying there that people keep on living their lives. And that’s important, because our war is not with the people of Iran, our war is with the regime.”
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'As a UAV operator, I can tell you that I feel very connected to the people of the country we fly over,' the drone chief said
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Smoke rises from a fire in Tehran, as the Israel-Iran air war continues
| REUTERSMajor D said he hoped the Iranian people would “understand” the IDF had to target oil facilities to stop the regime’s funding.
The officer said he and his three-person crew were grabbing a couple of hours of sleep “here and there” amid the operation.
The team has fired its munitions on most of the missions so far. Major D said he hoped this operation would create a more peaceful future for his children and grandchildren.
Some of the Iranian missiles he is targeting are breaching Israel’s sophisticated air defences, with several wounded in the centre of the country on Sunday. Cluster munitions are being deployed by the Iranians, which pose additional risks to the civilian population.
Major D said that he welcomed the RAF shooting down drones that target Israel alongside the USAF over Jordan. He wants more nations to join them.
A missile launched from Iran is intercepted in Tel Aviv amid war in the Middle East
| REUTERS“Any country should look at the Iranian regime as a threat, not only to Israel, but to global peace," he said. “I hope that any allied country like Great Britain will help us with handling this threat, either removing threats that are being launched towards Israel, like drones, or in other ways.”
When pressed on what he meant by “other ways,” Major D said: "That's not for me to define." So far, there is little public or political demand for Britain to join the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but it is clear from our conversation that Major D wants that to change.
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