Harpy missile purchased from Israel, anti sea-eagle missile, anti-radiation missiles and some types of cluster bombs are in a high state of serviceability Defense Minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha today.

December 16, 2009, (Sawf News) - Harpy missile purchased from Israel, anti sea-eagle missile, anti-radiation missiles and some types of cluster bombs are in a high state of serviceability Defense Minister AK Antony told the Lok Sabha today.

The Harpy 'suicide' UAV acquired by the Indian army is a fire-and-forget all-weather, day/night autonomous anti radar system. It can loiter over a suspected enemy radar or missile site and attack any transmitting radar.

Harpy is designed to take out SAM and radar sites for long duration, by detecting, attacking and destroying radar emitters with a very high hit accuracy.

The 135 kg drone is 2.1 meter long, 2.7 meter span and with range of 500 km.

It is launched from a sealed container to endure harsh battlefield conditions. It can be fueled or defueled within the launcher container ensuring readiness at all time. The system uses periodical built-in test to maintain full readiness.

The Indian Air Force is set to acquire 10 Harop loitering drones from Malat, the UAV division of Israel Aerospace Industries, under a $100 million deal.

The Harops, aka Harpy-2, will be inducted into service by 2011.

For more on the IAF acquisition please see my knol Harop Loitering Munition (LM) system.

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