IAI Heron
| Heron | |
|---|---|
| IAI Heron 1 UAV in flight | |
| General information | |
| Type | Unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle |
| National origin | Israel |
| Manufacturer | Israel Aerospace Industries |
| Status | Active, in production |
| Primary users | Israeli Defence Force |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 2005 |
| First flight | 1994 |
| Variants | EADS Harfang IAI Eitan Avionics Services Caçador |
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The IAI Heron (Machatz-1) is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Malat (UAV) division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is capable of Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) operations of up to 52 hours' duration at up to 10.5 km (35,000 ft). It has demonstrated 52 hours of continuous flight, but the effective operational maximal flight duration is less, according to payload and flight profile. An advanced version, the Heron TP, is also known as the IAI Eitan.
On 11 September 2005, it was announced that the Israel Defense Forces purchased US$50 million worth of Heron systems.