IAI Harpy

Last updated
Harpy
Paris Air Show 2007-06-24 n25.jpg
IAI Harpy at Paris Air Show 2007
General information
Type Loitering munition
National originIsrael/South Africa
Manufacturer IAI
History
First flight1989
Variants IAI Harop

The IAI Harpy is a loitering munition missile produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. The Harpy is designed to attack radar systems and is optimised for the suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) role. It carries a high explosive warhead. The Harpy has been sold to several foreign nations, including South Korea, India and China.

Contents

Design and development

In the late 1980s, Kentron sold the designs for its ARD-10 loitering drone to IAI. IAI then used those designs to develop the Harpy which was first tested in 1989. [1]

In 2004, the Harpy became the focus of the effort by the United States to restrict arms transfers and the sales of advanced military technology to China. Sold to China in 1994 for around US$55 million, the loitering munitions were returned to Israel in 2004 under contract to be upgraded. The United States, fearing that the Harpy would pose a threat to Taiwanese and American forces in the case of a war with China, [2] demanded that Israel seize the loitering munitions and nullify the contract. According to Israel, the Harpy is an indigenously designed loitering munition, and does not contain any US-produced sub-systems. [3] In 2005, the loitering munitions were returned to China without being upgraded. This incident chilled relations between the United States and Israel, with Israel being suspended from its status as Security Cooperative Participant in the Joint Strike Fighter program. However, on 6 November 2005, Israel stated that it has been re-admitted into the program. [4]

Specifications

Harpy

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Mini Harpy

Data from IAI [5] [6] [7]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Triple-homing capabilities - utilizing anti-radiation, electro-optical day and electro-optical night seekers

Operators

Map with IAI Harpy users in blue IAI Harpy Users.png
Map with IAI Harpy users in blue

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IAI RQ-5 Hunter</span>

The IAI RQ-5 Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was originally intended to serve as the United States Army's Short Range UAV system for division and corps commanders. It took off and landed on runways. It used a gimbaled EO/IR sensor to relay its video in real time via a second airborne Hunter over a C-band line-of-sight data link. The RQ-5 is based on the Hunter UAV that was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliant RQ-6 Outrider</span>

The Alliant RQ-6 Outrider unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was designed to provide near-real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition information to United States Marine Corps air/ground task forces, United States Army brigades, and deployed United States Navy units that was small enough for an entire system to be contained on two Humvees and trailer and transported on a single C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RUAG Ranger</span> Swiss-Israeli military surveillance drone, 1999

RANGER is a tactical UAV system (TUAV) built as a Swiss-Israeli joint venture between Swiss aerospace enterprise RUAG Aviation and Israeli aerospace company Israel Aerospace Industries. Its design and some of its technology is based on the Scout UAV system by Israel Aerospace Industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IAI Searcher</span> Type of aircraft

The IAI Searcher is a reconnaissance UAV developed in Israel in the 1980s. In the following decade, it replaced the IMI Mastiff and IAI Scout UAVs then in service with the Israeli Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IAI Harop</span> Israeli stealth loitering munition

The IAI Harop is a loitering munition developed by the MBT division of Israel Aerospace Industries. Loitering munitions are designed to loiter above the battlefield and attack targets by crashing into them and exploding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pegaz</span> Serbian UAV

The BPL Pegaz 011 is a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle prototype developed at the Military Engineering Institute, premiered at the 2011 Partner Arms Fair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AeroVironment Switchblade</span> American loitering missile

The AeroVironment Switchblade is a miniature loitering munition designed by AeroVironment and used by several branches of the United States military. Small enough to fit in a backpack, the Switchblade launches from a tube, flies to the target area, and crashes into its target while detonating its explosive warhead. The name Switchblade comes from how the spring-loaded wings are folded inside a tube and flipped out once released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HESA Hamaseh</span> Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle

The HESA Hamaseh is an Iranian tactical and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with high flight endurance built by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA). The Hamaseh was unveiled in 2013 and entered service in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing CQM-121 Pave Tiger</span> Type of aircraft

The Boeing CQM-121 Pave Tiger is an unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Boeing for use by the United States Air Force. Intended for the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role, the drone reached the flight-test stage before cancellation.

The IAI Harpy NG or IAI Harpy New Generation is a Loitering munition produced by the Israel Aerospace Industries. It is an anti-radiation drone and loitering weapon and is optimized for the SEAD operations. It has high explosive warhead and is a "fire and forget" autonomous weapon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IAI Green Dragon</span> Israeli loitering munition

The IAI Green Dragon is a loitering munition developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries. The drone is low cost that can loiter for 1.5 hours and a range of 40–50 km. It is munition itself with 3 kg warhead that can approach the target silently and hit with the effect of < 1m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IAI Rotem L</span> Israeli loitering munition

The IAI Rotem L or IAI Rotem - Light is a loitering munition developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries. The drone is a quadcopter that can loiter for 30–45 minutes with the maximum range of 10 km. It can carry 1 kg warhead that could be two fragmentation grenades.

A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in warhead that is typically designed to loiter around a target area until a target is located, then attack the target by crashing into it. Loitering munitions enable faster reaction times against hidden targets that emerge for short periods without placing high-value platforms near the target area and also allow more selective targeting as the attack can be changed mid-flight or aborted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WB Electronics Warmate</span> Polish loitering munition

WB Electronics Warmate is a class of loitering munition UAVs developed by the Polish defence contractor WB Group. It can be equipped with several different payloads, including fragmentation, HEAT and thermobaric warheads and has a swarming capability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCSIST Cardinal</span> Family of Taiwanese UAVs

Cardinal is a family of small unmanned aerial vehicles made by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HAL CATS Warrior</span> Unmanned combat aerial vehicle

CATS Warrior is a part of the HAL Combat Air Teaming System program. Its work is believed to have started in early 2019 under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the state owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and an Indian private startup, Newspace R&D. HAL has done an initial investment of ₹400 crore in CATS Warriors & in Aero India 2021 a full-scale mock-up model was presented for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shahed 149 Gaza</span> Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle

The Shahed 149 Gaza or, is an Iranian unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. It was unveiled on 21 May 2021 and named after the Gaza Strip in honor of the Palestinians' struggle against Israel amid the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. It was delivered to the IRGC Aerospace Force in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZALA Lancet</span> Russian loitering munition

The ZALA Lancet is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and loitering munition developed by the Russian company ZALA Aero Group for the Russian Armed Forces. It was first unveiled in June 2019 at the ARMY-2019 military expo in Moscow. It is a further development of the ZALA Kub-BLA loitering munition. Iran claimed in April 2024 that it has manufactured a domestic analogue of the drone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CASC CH-901</span> Loitering munition

The CASC CH-901 is a loitering munition developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) in 2016. The drone can be deployed in several ways; it can be carried by soldiers in the field and launched out of a tube, as well as from vehicles, aircraft, and UCAVs. In 2020 China unveiled a truck fitted with 48 launch tubes for CH-901 loitering munitions.

The Stella Tecnologia Atobá XR is an remotely controlled unmanned combat aerial vehicle capable of autonomous flight and attack operations in development by the company Stella Tecnologia primarily for the Brazilian Armed Forces. The Atobá XR is the first Brazilian hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance operations.

References

  1. "South African heritage". Air Forces Monthly. December 2022. p. 23.
  2. Federman, Josef (12 June 2005). "Report: U.S. imposes sanctions against Israeli arms". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  3. "USA and Israel in crisis over China Harpy deal". 4 January 2005. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  4. Schiff, Ze'ev (22 December 2004). "Don't Return Drones to China, U.S. Tells Israel". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  5. "Mini Harpy Multi-Purpose Tactical Loitering Munition" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-10-31.
  6. "Mini Harpy Multi-Purpose Tactical Loitering Munition". Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  7. "Loitering Munitions - Meeting the Challenge of Time-Sensitive Targets". Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  8. Missiles, rockets and drones define Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict, Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post, October 4, 2020