A giant missile detection balloon deployed by the Israeli Air Force as part of its Sky Dew defense system. Photo: Twitter

i24 News – Israel’s air force received a massive air balloon which monitors missiles and other aerial threats in a ceremony on Tuesday.

The blimp is part of the Sky Dew system — one of the world’s largest such alert systems — and it contains a number of sensors to detect some of the sky’s greatest dangers from a high altitude.

In an event attended by a number of defense officials, the balloon was formally transferred from Israel’s Defense Ministry to the air force.

Moshe Patel, the head of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization, said that the alert system will “change reality,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

“The Sky Dew system was a challenging mission that we set for ourselves about a decade ago and it is being handed over to the air force today in preparation for its transformation into an operational warning system,” he explained.

Sky Dew is planned to deploy in Israel’s north to monitor threats along the border there — in recent weeks, drones crossing into Israel’s airspace from nearby Lebanon have prompted alarm from Israeli officials

“The aerial detection balloon will sail at high altitude, will observe long distances and will allow maximum detection capability of advanced threats from different directions,” Patel said.