EADS Harfang

Background

The French Air Force purchased its first drones in 1995 with multiple RQ-5 Hunter units. Interest in the IAI Heron, displayed at the 1999 Paris Air Show, led to a project to field a derivative two years later. A prototype was launched for trials from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base on 9 September 2006, followed by trials by the Centre d'essais en vol before transfer to Mont-de-Marsan Air Base.

Originally planned for delivery in summer 2003 as a Hunter replacement (the Hunters were phased out in September 2004), industrial setbacks delayed delivery, notably because the satellite communication system did not conform with Air Force requirements. The drones were modified from an off-the-shelf product into a custom plane built for the French Air Force. The plane and onboard computer were built by Malat, a division of Israel Aerospace Industries, based on the IAI Heron.

Drones

The Harfang drone is propelled by a rear-mounted turbo-supercharged water-cooled flat-four engine driving a pusher propeller. It has a flapped high wing with anti-icing system and a twin boom tail with two vertical surfaces. The mission pack is a three-sensor gyroscope-stabilised sphere mounted under the forward fuselage, containing optronic and IR sensors, a laser designator/rangefinder, and a high-resolution synthetic aperture radar with fixed echo suppression. The radar can observe vehicle movement under any meteorological condition.

The drone carries an inertial measurement unit with GPS recalibration and differential GPS for automatic take-off and landing. In case of lost communications, it follows a path back to its start point while trying to re-establish contact. It lacks electromagnetic sensors and is limited by bad weather, notably icing or high humidity.

Control station

The control station comprises four modules: M1 (mission preparation, based on a Mirage 2000 briefing station), M2 (command and control, used mostly during take-off and landing), M3 (data collection via satellite communication), and M4 (military intelligence centre). A line-of-sight link allows direct communication up to 150–200 km; longer ranges use a directional antenna and geostationary satellites. VHF and UHF communication relays provide links to ground units and air traffic control.