At the briefing, a senior Israeli military official said the armed drone fleet includes the passenger plane-sized Heron TP, made by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. and Elbit Systems Ltd.’s smaller Hermes.
The former, the official said, is “the heaviest drone the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has, which can carry munitions with an effective payload of about one ton”.
The Israeli manufacturer does not publicize the drone’s armed capabilities, under what industry sources describe as the Ministry of Defense’s secrecy policy.
Given the sensitivity of the subject, the official, who was not identified as conforming to military requirements, said any sales of bomb-capable drones would be government-to-government, negating the need for publicity.
All drone weapons are Israeli-made, and “come down in free-fall, and can reach the speed of sound”, the official said.