Airbus to continue Heron 1 operations support
Airbus DS Airborne Solutions has received contract extensions from the German armed forces to continue supporting Heron 1 UAS operations in Afghanistan and Mali.
Under the service model contracts, Airbus DS Airborne Solutions will be responsible for managing all assets and manpower to support Heron 1 deployments until mid 2020. The company will provide, maintain and repair the systems in Mazar-I-Sharif in Afghanistan and Gao in Mali to ensure the operational availability of the UAS.
The IAI Heron 1 is a medium altitude long-endurance UAS, which can be operated from unpaved runways under harsh environmental conditions. With a wingspan of 17m and a maximum mission duration of more than 24 hours, the UAS can be deployed for detection of IEDs from the air, convoy and patrol unit escort, route exploration and supervision, creation of movement profiles and long-term supervision, support for status reports as well as object and camp protection rank.
The air force has been using the Heron 1 system in Afghanistan since 2010 and in Mali since 2016.
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