Australia purchases IAI’s Heron

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

There is no doubt the world is marching towards a technological advancements unheard of before. With each passing day we hear of more unmanned platforms and of more technologies that make the human factor redundant in the chain of decision-making. Simultaneously, the argument between those who side with complete automatization of all areas of life and those who completely rule out this option is still well under way. In spite of all this, even the side to resist can’t ignore the fact that automatization, at least in some areas of activity, can reduce unnecessary risks for human lives.

Lately a purchase deal was signed between the Australian Air Force and IAI in which it states that Australia plans on purchasing the Israeli Heron UAV. The use of the Israeli vehicle will be in the civil air space of the country and will be operated for the first time at the end of the month under a joint military excersize between Australia and the U.S. Australia’s purpose in purchasing the Heron is to upgrade the flight and control abilities of the Air Force in remote-controlled aerial platforms as preperation to purchasing the American Tritin MQ-4C. The soon-to-be purchased UAV will be the third, after two Heron platforms are already being operated.

The vehicle passed all inspections of the Australian flight authorities and was officially approved to fly over a wide range of civillian populated areas. Australis is the latest in a long list of western countried approving the Heron for flight, including Israel, Canada, Germany, Brazil, France and the U.S. Shaul Shahar, IAI’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Military Aircraft Group, points out that “The approvals represent a formal recognition in Heron’s maturity, the reliability of the system, its remarkable safety and airworthiness design features.”

Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in the UAV market and every added approval such as this is yet another proof of the quality of Israel’s products, which is already a house-hold name in the flight world, both civil and military.