Media Room: Media Releases

Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Return to Flight Status after Temporary suspension of flying

Australia’s Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have returned to flight after flying of all Heron UAVs was temporarily suspended for 24 hours on 1 November.

Contractor MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), suspended flying its fleet of Heron aircraft worldwide temporarily as a precautionary measure, pending advice from the manufacturer, Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), following a series of landing gear malfunctions.

Flight suspension of the Heron aircraft had minimal impact on Australian operations in Afghanistan.

A previous incident involving a landing gear malfunction caused minor damage to an Australian Heron aircraft on 28 September after the landing gear in the nose failed to deploy.

Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664