Afghanistan: Germany to Operate Heron-1 for Additional Year

Germany has extended a leasing contract to operate the Israeli Heron-1 unmanned aerial system (UAS) for another year in support of ongoing operations in Afghanistan.

Estimated at tens of millions of dollars, the contract concluded between the German Defence Procurement Agency and Airbus DS Airborne Solutions, a subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space, extends Heron operations in Afghanistan until February 2018. 

In its news release, IAI noted that its Heron-1 recently marked 30,000 hours in Afghanistan since the German Air Force began operating the system in 2010. The German Air Force also is operating the Heron-1 in Mali as part of a United Nations policing mission. “Our connection with the German Air Force is of course highly important, and we are proud to continue to provide an operational solution together with the excellent cooperation we have with Airbus,” said retired Israeli Air Force Brig. Gen. Shaul Shahar, IAI's executive vice president and general manager of the firm’s Military Aircraft Group.  

Francia se interesa por los Reaper

 

El Ministro de Defensa Jean-Ives Le Drian afirma que Francia está buscando UAVs de última generación para llevar a cabo misiones de inteligencia y eventualmente de combate. El armamento con que cuenta Francia está anticuado y la reciente intervención militar en Malí ha dejado tan patente su deficiente stock de UAVs adaptados a la guerra del siglo XXI, que ha sido Estados Unidos quien ha tenido que prestarle sus UAVs con base en Niger para llevar a cabo misiones de inteligencia.

 

 

"Necesitamos disponer a corto plazo de esos aparatos. Hay actualmente dos países que construyen UAVs: los Estados Unidos e Israel. Estamos en negociaciones con cada uno para comprar algo de manera inmediata." dijo Le Drian en el canal de TV iTele. Por su parte, el diario Le Monde ha revelado que Francia ha recibido la aprobación del Pentágono para comprar dos UAVs General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, y que la venta sólo necesita ya el respaldo del Congreso. El periódico añadió que Francia está negociando la compra de entre cinco y siete Reapers por 300 millones de euros. El objetivo según Le Monde es desplegarlos en Mali antes de que finalice este año.

 

US troops in Niger to set up drone base

 

Pentagon steps up counterterrorism efforts in Africa; aims to set up new surveillance operation base in western African nation (Read more)

 

 

U.S. Weighs Base for Spy Drones in North Africa

A handful of unarmed Predator drones would carry out surveillance missions in the region. The Africa Command’s plan still needs approval from the Pentagon and eventually from the White House. If approved, the base could ultimately have as many as 300 United States military and contractor personnel, but it would probably begin with far fewer people than that, military officials said. (Read more)