Spain Negotiating for UAV

The Spanish Air Force is currently in initial negotiations with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the potential acquisition of the Heron-1 “Shoval” UAV. This was reported by Israeli sources to the Flight Global website, and the sources have also confirmed that negotiations are continuing despite the economic crisis in Spain.

In April 2013, IAI carried out a demonstration of the UAV and its ability to be integrated in civilian airspace. The demonstration was held at the Murcia Airport in San Javier, Spain. The test was a primary component in the DeSIRE (Demonstration of Satellites enabling the Insertion of RPAS in Europe) project, which was funded by the European Defense Agency (EDA) and the European Space Agency (EDA), and was carried out by the international consortium headed by Indra.

During six hours of flight, the command and control (C2) and communication between the Spanish air control service AENA and the operator on the ground was carried out via satellite. In addition, data collected by naval surveillance aircraft were transmitted in real time to the control station on the ground.