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Drones & UAVsActive, in production
Unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle
IAI Heron is a unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle originating in Israel. It was built by Israel Aerospace Industries. Published specifications list length 8.5 m and wingspan 16.6 m; the configuration for each measurement is shown below.
Unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle
Israel
Israel Aerospace Industries
Active, in production
Israeli Defence Force Indian Air Force Azerbaijan Air Force Brazilian Federal Police Turkish Air Force
2005
1994
EADS Harfang IAI Eitan Avionics Services Caçador
250 kg (551 lb)
8.5 m (27 ft 11 in)
16.6 m (54 ft 6 in)
1,150 kg (2,535 lb)
1 × Rotax 916 4-cylinder air and water cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 160 kW (210 hp)
207 km/h (129 mph, 112 kn)
52 hours
10,000 m (33,000 ft)
2.5 m/s (490 ft/min)
IAI SA-21
3-bladed pusher propeller
89 kg/m 2 (18 lb/sq ft)
טווח טיסה מרבי 350 ק"מ (בתקשורת בקו ראייה; גדול יותר עם ממסר)
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
True scale
Sourced dimensions beside a 1.75 m human reference.
Points represent sourced observations, including revisions. Revisions on the same effective date are not separate inventory events. Ranges appear in the table and are not plotted as exact points.
| Observation / report period | Value | Source | Claim state |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Sept 2026 | 8.5 m | Wikipedia contributors | superseded |
| 28 Sept 2026 | 8.5 m | Wikipedia contributors | superseded |
| 28 Sept 2026 | 8.5 m | Wikipedia contributors | superseded |
| 28 Sept 2026 | 8.5 m | Wikipedia contributors | superseded |
| 28 Sept 2026 | 8.5 m | Wikipedia contributors | approved |
| 28 Sept 2026 | 8.5 m | Wikipedia contributors | superseded |
Heron equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
AzerbaijanAir Force and Air Defence exact named equipment holdings: Heron. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Air Force and Air Defence exact named equipment holdings of Heron. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only, not a national or parent-force total or combat-readiness measure. Source role(s): UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. No heading aggregate, carried armament, crew, payload, factory production or future order count inherited. Source plus sign gives a lower bound of at least 3; no upper bound is invented.
BrazilNumber column of the Wikipedia list table under "UAV". The list's own wording applies; it is a compiled secondary source, not an official census.
CanadaNumber column of the Wikipedia list table under "Aircraft listing". The list's own wording applies; it is a compiled secondary source, not an official census.
EcuadorNaval Aviation exact named equipment holdings: Heron. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
GermanyReported count for IAI Heron · Heron 1. Service scope: German Air and Space Force; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Excludes retired/reserve/on-order rows. Count column(s): in service: 6. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. Dates are the count-cell citations' stated source period (2018), not the article revision. Cited source 2018-03-06. Edition or publication years do not claim an exact inventory census day.
GreeceReported count for IAI Eitan - Heron TP · Heron 1. Service scope: Hellenic Air Force; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Retired, wholly reserve and on-order rows are excluded; the reported count retains any explicitly mixed stock scope in the quoted row. Count column(s): in service: 3. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. The components do not establish one inventory census date; the stored date is the retrieved source snapshot.
IndiaNaval Aviation exact named equipment holdings: Heron. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Israel
MaltaAir Wing exact named equipment holdings of Heron (leased). Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only, not a national or parent-force total or combat-readiness measure. Source role(s): UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. No heading aggregate, carried armament, crew, payload, factory production or future order count inherited. The source declares a separate Air Wing subsection within Armed Forces of Malta. Source parentheses retain employment, lease, reporting designation, alternate model, or included-subset scopes exactly. Own fetched primary and alternate/model identity declarations are retained. Numbers inside an included subset are part of the printed count and are never added again; no sibling or parent specification is copied.
MoroccoReported count for IAI Heron. Service scope: Royal Moroccan Air Force; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Excludes retired/reserve/on-order rows. Count column(s): in service: 3. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. The components do not establish one inventory census date; the stored date is the retrieved source snapshot.
Singapore
South Korea
TürkiyeNumber column of the Wikipedia list table under "Unmanned". The list's own wording applies; it is a compiled secondary source, not an official census.
VietnamReported count for IAI Heron · Heron Mk1 Heron Mk2. Service scope: Vietnam People's Navy; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Retired, wholly reserve and on-order rows are excluded; the reported count retains any explicitly mixed stock scope in the quoted row. Count column(s): quantity: 3. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. Dates are the count-cell citations' stated source period (2021), not the article revision. Cited source 2021-03-17. Edition or publication years do not claim an exact inventory census day.
Israeli Defence Force Indian Air Force Azerbaijan Air Force Brazilian Federal Police Turkish Air Force
Equipment reference ↗Reported count for IAI Heron · Heron TP (Eitan). Service scope: Aircraft of the German Air Force; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Excludes retired/reserve/on-order rows. Count column(s): in service: 5. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. The components do not establish one inventory census date; the stored date is the retrieved source snapshot.
Air Force exact named equipment holdings: Heron. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Army holdings of the exact named Heron component; source ε estimate, not an exact census. Active, reserve operational and training units, excluding equipment in store. This is a service-scoped observation, not a national total or combat readiness. Any explicit leased subset is included in, not added to, the quoted total. No parent-design or sibling-variant count inherited.
Reported count for IAI Heron · Heron Mk I. Service scope: Naval Air Arm; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Excludes retired/reserve/on-order rows. Count column(s): in service: 10. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. Dates are the count-cell citations' stated source period (2024), not the article revision. Cited source 2024-12-21. Edition or publication years do not claim an exact inventory census day.
Reported count for IAI Heron. Service scope: Air Wing of the Armed Forces of Malta; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Retired, wholly reserve and on-order rows are excluded; the reported count retains any explicitly mixed stock scope in the quoted row. Count column(s): in service: 1. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. Dates are the count-cell citations' stated source period (2021), not the article revision. Cited source 2021-05-10. Edition or publication years do not claim an exact inventory census day.