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The French air force has ended its Heron unmanned aircraft operations in Afghanistan. The system — called Harfang in the French military inventory — logged more than 660 missions and over 5,000 flights from its Bagram air base temporary home, according to the French military, three years after the system first deployed to Afghanistan. Around 40% of missions were in support of French forces, with the rest aiding NATO more widely, the French military says. (Harfang last year also was used during the NATO-led operation in Libya.) While deployed, the French military has upgraded the intelligence capacity of the system by allowing it to operate with Rover terminals.France is looking to put in place its mid- and long-term medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV plans. Fielding of the Heron TP will be the next step before the Franco-British MALE UAV cooperation effort yields a new system around 2020.
Tags: ar99, unmanned, France