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, Turkey and China.
The usefulness of UAVs for aerial reconnaissance was demonstrated to the United States in the Vietnam War. At the same time, early steps were being taken to use them in active combat at sea and on land, but unmanned combat aerial vehicles would not come into their own until the 1980s.
Luna X 2000 is a German unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle in service with the Bundeswehr and produced by EMT Penzberg of Germany.
The Elbit Systems Skylark I and Skylark II are miniature UAVs developed by Elbit Systems. Initial models of the Skylark entered service in 2008.
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.
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.
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 the way the spring-loaded wings are folded up inside a tube and flip out once released.
TAI Gözcü is a radio-controlled short-range tactical drone. Designed, developed and built by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is in use by the Turkish Armed Forces for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance purposes. Gözcü is the Turkish word for observer.
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.
The Orion is a Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Aurora Flight Sciences.
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.
The Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon-201 or TAPAS BH-201 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being developed in India by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) on the lines of General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.
A loitering munition is a kind of aerial weapon with a built-in munition (warhead), which can loiter around the target area until a target is located; it then attacks 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.
The Raytheon Coyote is a small, expendable, unmanned aircraft system built by the Raytheon Company, with the capability of operating in autonomous swarms. It is launched from a sonobuoy canister with the wings deploying in early flight phase.
The Albatross(Chinese: 銳鳶; pinyin: Ruì yuān,“Sharp Kite”), also known as the Chung Xiang II, is a medium unmanned aerial vehicle made by National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. It is in service with the Republic of China Navy.
The Luch Korsar is a medium-weight Russian unmanned aerial vehicle developed by OKB Luch, member of Ruselectronics owned by Rostec, to perform reconnaissance, strike and electronic attack missions on behalf of the Russian Ground Forces and Navy. The program started in 2009 and the flight testing commenced in 2015. It is considered as an improved analogue of the US-made RQ-7 Shadow UAV.
The HAL Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) is an Indian unmanned and manned combat aircraft air teaming system being developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The system will consist of a manned fighter aircraft acting as "mothership" of the system and a set of swarming UAVs and UCAVs governed by the mothership aircraft. A twin-seated HAL Tejas is likely to be the mothership aircraft. Various other sub components of the system are currently under development and will be jointly produced by HAL, National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Newspace Research & Technologies.
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.
WB Group is a Polish electronics and aeronautics manufacturer, and one of Europe's largest private defence contractors. The company was established in 1997 and is based in Ożarów Mazowiecki. Through its various subsidiaries, WB produces military communications equipment, command and control systems, fire-control systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and loitering munitions.
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.
