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IAI Heron TP

Type (Muster)
Medium altitude, long endurance UAV (unbemanntes Fluggerät mit langer Flugzeit)

Country (Land)
Israel

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
Israel Aerospace Industries, MALAT Division
Ben Gurion Intern. Airport,70100
Israel

Phone: 972-3/9357349
Fax: 972-3/9354175
Internet: www.malat-iai.com

General (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 0

Power plant (Antrieb): 1 x turboprop, presumably a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A
Power (Leistung): 1200 shp

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Length (Länge): 14,0 m
Span (Spannweite): 26,0 m

Weights (Massen)
typical mission paylaod (Nutzlast): 1000 kg
Max. take-off weight (Startmasse): 4650 kg

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Service ceiling (Dienstgipfelhöhe): 45000 ft
Endurance (Flugdauer): probably 24 hours normal, or up to 36 hrs maximum

Costs (Kosten)
No details available.

Customers (Kunden)
None yet officially revealed, but it seems certain that the Israeli Air and Space Force will take some.

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
The Heron TP is the largest UAV ever developed by MALAT. It is a multi-payload, multi-mission platform to fulfill the requirements of the Israeli Air Force. Among the features are:

triple-redundant flight control system
independent mission control system
automatic take-off and landing
large internal volume for payloads
external stations for weapons
all-weather operations

History (Geschichte)
The Heron TP was developed to a requirement by the Israeli Defence Force. Development probably began in the spring of 2004 after the Israeli Air and Space Force issued a requirement for a larger UAV.
The Heron TP flew for the first time on 14 July 2006. A total of four prototypes had been built by the time of the Paris Air Show in June 2007, when the Heron TP was shown for the first time. Some weeks earlier, the first leaked video sequences had become available.
IAI said at Paris that the initial test programme had been completed and that the type was ready for series production as soon as military financing becomes available.

Civil | Military | Helicopters | History | Spaceflight

Last updated 26 July 2007

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