German Heron TP (GHTP) contract amendment signed

The German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has signed a contract amendment with Airbus DS Airborne Solutions GmbH, a 100% Airbus subsidiary, to demonstrate operations with the German Heron TP drone in Germany.

With its signature, the BAAINBw has now cleared the way for a six-month flight operation of the GHTP project in Germany, with which the system can be operated in European airspace, starting with flights in German airspace. The contractor Airbus DS Airborne Solutions GmbH (ADAS) is providing the aircraft and support services to the German Armed Forces.

The flight operation with the GHTP for the purposes of national and alliance defence will take place at the Jagel site near Schleswig, where the Tactical Air Force Wing 51 “Immelmann” is also stationed. The Israeli drone system has been type-certified for operation in Germany since the end of last year.

The GHTP is a market-available system with modifications for the operational needs of the Bundeswehr and will take over the capability for reconnaissance, surveillance and support of forces on the ground until the introduction of the Eurodrone.

German Military Aviation Authority awarded the Type Certificate for MALE UAS German Heron TP Bremen/Tel-Aviv

On December 8th 2022, the German Military Aviation Authority (GMAA) formally awarded a Type Certificate to BAAINBw for the German Heron TP (GHTP) remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS), which was contracted to Airbus DS Airborne Solutions GmbH, production and operation by the German Airforce.

The Type Certificate is the result of years of intensive type certification effort by the prime contractor Airbus DS Airborne Solutions GmbH (ADAS) and its partner the GHTP OEM Israel Aerospace Industry (IAI) together with the GMAA. The Type certificate attests GHTP’s compliance with the latest version of military airworthiness standard (STANAG 4671). The effort included major adaptation of multiple systems to be compliant with the required standards, compilation, review of hundreds of documents, as well as multiple reviews and tests in close cooperation between GMAA, ADAS and IAI. All this was performed, and brought to a very successful conclusion.

The awarding of the Type Certificate paves the way for the GHTP worldwide operation by German Armed Forces and lays a cornerstone for IAI’s continued development of systems and products to maintain its position as a pioneer in RPAS industry, since its earliest days.

The German Heron TP is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, multiple payload, remotely piloted aircraft system (MALE-RPAS) developed and built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Airbus DS Airborne Solutions (ADAS). It is based on IAI’s reliable Heron TP used by the IDF and Heron 1 that already supported German Forces for more than a decade in their missions in Afghanistan and Mali. Measuring 26 m span and weighing up to 5,400 kg the GHTP is capable of multi sensor missions for up to 27 hours. The system includes high levels of automation and system safety features in terms of multiple redundancies and automatic monitoring, detection of possible malfunctions and reconfiguration to maintain safe flight and airspace integration. The system will be one of the first UAS in this class ever to receive STANAG 4671 certification.

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