Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has recently developed and demonstrated a breakthrough operational and technological capability for the Heron Family equipped with new technology offering automatically land in remote runways located thousands of kilometers away, where it is serviced by a small crew and basic fueling infrastructure before it takes off for an additional mission. New capability enables the Heron RPAS(Remotely Piloted Aerial System) to perform long distance missions (thousands of kilometers away) and to use remote sites with minimal infrastructure for landing and takeoff for another mission, all with satellite communication.
IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) Heron UAV at Paris Air Show 2009 (Picture source Wikipedia)
Based on satellite communication, combined with precise automated taxiing, takeoff and landing, the innovative, unprecedented capability, constitutes a major breakthrough in the remote operation concept, offering utmost operational flexibility.
The new capability was tried successfully in May 2017, followed by a demonstration for the customer in November 2017. During that demonstration, the Heron took off from an airport in central Israel, performed a several-hour mission and landed automatically on secondary runway in southern Israel where the Heron was received by a minimal crew that refuel it and then the Heron took off from there to another mission ended after few more mission hours ending with automatic landing in its home base. The entire process, including the automated landing, taxiing on ground after landing, engine switching off and on, pre-takeoff taxiing and automated takeoff of the Heron was fully controlled from a remote control station in central Israel.
Filed as a new patent application in August 2017, the new capability saves on command stations and flying crew resources by eliminating the need to return to the original takeoff point for fueling. In this way, the technology saves flight time and fuel, increases the operational availability in the mission area and provides several options for routine and emergency landing. With the new capability, Heron RPAS will be used in even more complicated and challenging missions.
The Heron has a long, successful operational record gained through years of serving dozens of customers around the world, including the Israeli, German and other air forces. The Heron is designed for prolonged strategic and tactical missions and is capable of flying in tough weather conditions, carry multiple sensors simultaneously and transmit real time information to the forces in the field and the decision makers. To date, the Heron system has accumulated over 300 thousand flight hours across the globe.
Shaul Shahar, IAI EVP and General Manager of IAI's Military Aircraft Group, said, "The breakthrough technological capability and the upgraded operation capability of the Heron uniquely respond to our clients' need for high operational flexibility. It is expected to increase the number of markets we target. This is a technological and operational quantum leap that protects Heron's global leadership position. We are proud in IAI's ability to continually provide our clients with the world's best capabilities."
