All over the globe– from the Mexican border to Syria to the Sahel– companies are renting out planes equipped with powerful sensors to armies and intelligence services for political missions. The market may be discreet, but it isn’t invisible. Metrea, Berry Aviation and DEA Aviation aren’t your run-of-the-mill aviation companies.
They don’t transport passengers or merchandise; their planes are equipped with powerful intelligence equipment like cameras and radar. These planes are used for "ISR", an acronym for "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance". ISR missions are meant to detect, identify and then follow targets from the sky.
These days, there is a global market for ISR planes, a trend that began in the early 2000s. When the United States began operations in the Middle East after the attacks onSeptember 11, the army needed to carry out surveillance in both remote and mountainous regions in Afghanistan and within Iraqi cities. Their needs for ISR planes surpassed their capabilities.
The US began calling on companies equipped to provide these services. This practice continues: today, governments employ private planes to patrol and gather intelligence across Africa, the Middle East and along sensitive border zones. CAE Aviation is a French company known to be discreet.
Registered in Luxembourg, the company has a training and maintenance centre at the aerodrome in Lapalisse, France. It is the leading French company in the field of ISR planes. The French Ministry of the Armed Forces used a CAE Aviation plane with the registration number F-GYEE on December 7, 2025, when a coup threatened the government of Benin– which reportedly has close links to the French government.
This plane was spotted flying over the Benin capital looking for the coup leaders. This image, taken from the site Flightradar24, shows the flight map for the Beech King Air 350 on December 7, 2025. The site identifies the plane as being part of the French Air Force. © Flightradar24 On the other side of the Atlantic, the giant aeronautical company Metrea also carries out ISR missions.
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