The IAI Harop is a loitering munition developed by the MBT division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is an anti-radiation drone that can autonomously home in on radio emissions. Rather than holding a separate high-explosivewarhead, the drone itself is the main munition. This SEAD-optimised loitering munition is designed to loiter the battlefield and attack targets by self-destructing into them. The drone can either operate fully autonomously, using its anti-radar homing system, or it can take a human-in-the-loop mode. If a target is not engaged, the drone will return and land itself back at base. It has been designed to minimize its radar-signature through stealth. This anti-radiation drone is designed to target enemy air-defense systems in a first line of attack, as the small drone can evade SAMs and radar detection systems which are designed to target much larger aircraft or to intercept fixed-trajectory missiles.
Overview
The IAI Harop has a loiter time of 6 hours and a range of 1000 km both ways. It is a larger version of the IAI Harpy and is launched from ground- or sea-based canisters, but can be adapted for air-launch. The Harop can either operate fully autonomously, or it can take a man-in-the-loop mode, being controlled by a remote operator. The Harop features two guidance modes: it can either home in on radio emissions by itself with its anti-radar homing system, or the operator can select static or moving targets detected by the aircraft's electro-optical sensor. This latter mode allows the Harop to attack radars that are presently shut down and therefore not providing emissions for the aircraft to automatically home in on. If a target is not engaged, the drone will return and land itself back at base. IAI is developing a smaller version of the Harop for smaller applications, which it will unveil in 2015. The smaller Harop would be one-fifth the size and have a lighter warhead. It will be cheaper and have a shorter endurance of 2–3 hours to be used tactically against time-critical targets or ones that hide and re-appear.
History
Turkey may have been the launch customer for the Harop in 2005. In October 2005, MBDA submitted the Harop to the United Kingdom'sMinistry of Defence for consideration as the system for the Ministry's Loitering Munition Capability Demonstration program, otherwise known as "Fire Shadow". The Harop was selected as one of the finalists, but was rejected when the MoD decided that the contract should go to a British team. In August 2007, the government of India was negotiating to purchase eight to ten Harop systems. In September 2009, the Indian Air Force announced that it will be inducting the Harop systems purchased for US$100 Million. The Harop was publicly unveiled to the worldfor the first time in India, in the lead-up to the Aero India 2009 show. In February 2019, the Indian Air Force decided to add another 54 Harop drones to its fleet of around 110 of these drones, which they had renamed P-4. In April 2018, IAI systems were observed in a film made by the Azerbaijan Army, specifically the IAI Harop loitering munition system, resulting in criticism from the Armenian government concerning the supply of Israeli arms to the Azeri army.
Combat history
It first used in combat by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in April 2016. IAI Harop drones operated by Azerbaijan were used to destroy buses full of Armenian soldiers being transported to the frontline. The loitering drones were also reportedly used to destroy an Armenian command post. The Harop was also credited for destroying a Syrian Air DefenceSA-22 Pantsir on 10th May 2018.
