OVERVIEW: The Heron aka Shoval is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial system (UAS) for strategic and tactical missions.  

DETAILS:  The Heron has a primary mission of reconnaissance and surveillance. The Heron is also capable of target acquisition and artillery adjustment.   Payload options include electro-optical/infrared sensors, communications and electronic intelligence, synthetic-aperture radar ESM/ELINT and Maritime Patrol Radar.  Its long endurance provides a persistent mission capability.

The Heron navigates using an internal GPS navigation device, and either a fully autonomous pre-programmed flight profile or manual control from a ground control station, or a combination of both. It can autonomously return to base and land in case of lost communication with the ground station. 

The information collected on a mission is transmitted via LOS datalink or a beyond line of sight (BLOS) satellite datalink to the ground station (GCS) for processing and interpretation by the ground element, and rapidly processed through existing intelligence and communications to the users. 

Specifications:
 
Weight: 		  1150 kg 
Length: 		  8.5 m 
Wingspan: 		  16.6 m 
Speed:			  140 knts (max); XXX km/h
Range/Endurance:	  1800 nm mission radius; 45 hours
Service ceiling:	  35,000 feet	  
Payload			  250 kg

NOTES: IOC: 1982.  

SOURCES: 
Accessed December 7, 2020. https://www.iai.co.il/p/heron ; "Ancile." Ancile. Accessed December 7, 2020. https://www.deagel.com/Support%20Aircraft/Heron/a000385.