Israel Aerospace Industries has delivered its first Heron unmanned air vehicle system to the Canadian armed forces under a two-year lease deal worth C$95 million ($80 million).
In August Ottawa awarded a team of IAI and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) a contract to provide Heron UAVs to support Canadian forces operating in Afghanistan from February 2009. The Project Noctua effort will run until late 2010, with a C$35 million option to extend the arrangement for an additional year.
The Heron UAVs and their payloads were built at IAI's facilities in Israel, while management, training and in-theatre maintenance services are the responsibility of Canadian prime contractor MDA. The companies previously co-operated in staging a civil demonstration of the Heron system over Alberta, Canada, before tabling the joint proposal to the Canadian military.
Offering persistent surveillance of up to 45h, IAI's medium-altitude, long-endurance Heron design has a maximum take-off weight of 1,150kg (2,540lb), including a payload of up to 250kg.
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Source: Flight International
