Israeli and British security sources have confirmed in recent days that the Royal Air Force has been considering buying a number of Heron TP (also known as the Eitan) systems, since the Mantis, a joint British-French unmanned strategic project, has been delayed and will not be operational before 2020.
No official request has yet been made by the British Ministry of Defense and for now, the RAF is only making initial examinations and is also considering American UAS and continuing its manned surveillance flights while waiting for the Mantis.
If the RAF selects the Eitan, it will be the second Israeli UAS bought by the British, following the Hermes 450, which is developed in Israel by Elbit and is built in Britain in a joint venture with the Thales Company as part of a NIS 4.7 billion contract.
An official at Israel Aerospace Industries said that, “Following the decision of the French ministry of defense to purchase the Eitan, we certainly expect other European armies to buy it.”
A British Ministry of Defense spokesperson said that, “In order to provide our troops with the best equipment available, we continually look at how we can exploit a range of emerging and developing technologies to support our Armed Forces.”
Source: Haaretz