Ares | By Robert Wall | 13 January 2010
Afghanistan Becomes Heaven for Heron

The Israeli unmanned aircraft industry owes a collective thank you to the Taliban and Al Qaeda — or maybe NATO — since there appears to be no end in sight in the demand for Israeli made UAVs to support operations in Afghanistan.

In addition to the Australian announcement that it has begun operations in Afghanistan with its leased Herons under Project Nankeen, France also continues to expand its UAV force. The government says it is buying a fourth Heron, called Harfang, with delivery to the Adour squadron due in the summer (it is also buying another ground station).

France began its Harfang operations in February 2009 and, by year end, had accumulated 1,500 flight hours.

This year, Germany also is due to start operating leased Herons in Afghanistan. Canada has already been operating leased Herons in country as well.

The Netherlands also have drawn on Iraeli UAV capacity with a contract last year to Aeronautics Defense to provide the Aerostar UAV in a fee-for-service arrangement.

Source: Ares