A private Israeli company that manufactures tethered aerostats and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance balloons.

In the summer of 2014, the company supplied five surveillance balloons to the Jerusalem Municipality as part of the security apparatus of the Jerusalem light rail in occupied East Jerusalem. The model deployed in East Jerusalem was the SkyStar 180, three of the balloons were equipped with high quality network-connected video cameras, which stream pictures in real time to police units on the ground and the other two were decoys used for deterrence. One of the balloons was positioned in the Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat and one in the settlement neighborhood of the French Hill.

In 2017, the company tested new technology, a SkyStar 110 micro surveillance balloon, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. In 2018, an identical balloon was documented stationed over a number of Palestinian villages west of Jenin in the West Bank. RT balloons are also stationed on Route 443, a settler road in the West Bank.

RT’s chief client is the Israeli army. The company’s first prototype was developed according to the specific requirements of the Israeli army. At present, the combat intelligence collection unit uses the SkyStar 180 and 300 aerostats for collecting tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The aerostats are provided to the army under a multiyear leasing contract with the Israel Ministry of Defense. In Israel, SkyStar systems are equipped with the Speed-A payload by Controp Company.

RT supplies “SkyStar” surveillance balloons to the Israeli army that have been deployed in consecutive military assaults on Gaza in 2008-9, 2012 and 2014, during which the Israeli army operated 13 RT balloons.

The company operates a factory in the settlement of Katzrin in the occupied Syrian Golan.