IAI Heron

The IAI Heron, known in Israel as Machatz-1, is a medium altitude long endurance unmanned air vehicle developed by the Malat division of Israel Aerospace Industries for strategic and tactical missions. It uses the twin-boom pusher-propeller layout the company favours, on a larger scale than its earlier types, with a wingspan of 16.6 meters, a takeoff weight of 1,250 kilograms, retractable tricycle landing gear and an arresting hook, and it is powered by a turbocharged Rotax 914 flat-four piston engine. It first flew in 1994, can reach 30,000 feet and has an endurance of up to 50 hours. It was first deployed with the Indian forces and has since been acquired by the Israel Air Force and the Turkish forces, and coalition forces in Afghanistan relied on it for real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. IAI also developed the Heron TP, known as Eitan, with a turboprop engine.