RAAF To Fly Heron Drone In Military Training Exercise With US

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will fly the Israeli-made Heron medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS at Talisman Sabre 2015, a biennial joint training exercise with the U.S. military.

This week, the service conducted the historic first flights outside of restricted airspace to familiarize pilots with the Rockhampton airspace before the training exercise, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported June 24.

The service will fly the large UAS from Rockhampton Airport, the report added.

The RAAF currently operates two Israel Aerospace Industries’ Herons. It leases the unarmed Heron from Canadian firm MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA).

MDA in October has announced a US$32.3 millioncontract amendment from the Australian government to transition its unmanned aerial vehicle services to Australia from Afghanistan. Australia’s Heron detachment in Afghanistan flew its final mission from Kandahar Air Field on November 30. MDA said that it will supply “UAV operations and related services” to the RAAF through December 2017.

The service plans to train with the Heron until it receives up to seven Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft.

The Triton is a Global Hawk maritime derivative that will operate alongside the RAAF’s coming Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.