Israel Aerospace Industries and US contractor L3Harris partner on light-attack aircraft

Summary

• IAI
  and L3Harris partner to develop Blue Sky Warden aircraft.
• Based
  on L3Harris Sky Warden platform tailored for Israeli needs.
• Features
  Israeli mission systems, open-architecture software integration.

With the signing of a memorandum of understanding last week
between American and Israeli defense companies for the construction of the
aircraft, Israel is moving forward with the purchase of new light attack
aircraft for border security.

Under the several regional divisions of the Israel Defense
Force, the Israeli Air Force has been preparing to create multiple new
squadrons that would fly light aircraft around Israel’s borders with the Gaza
Strip, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt since at least late 2024.

IAF officials said the squadrons would conduct
long-endurance surveillance missions and fly light aircraft armed with machine
guns and other munitions to prevent large-scale infiltration attacks.

The light aircraft squadrons were established in response to
the lessons learnt after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel.

According to the IAF’s investigation into the October 7
raid, helicopters were subjected to anti-aircraft fire, and fighter jets were
unable to obtain real-time intelligence on Hamas’s ground invasion.

Israel Aerospace Industries and American defense contractor
L3Harris announced last Wednesday that they had inked
a memorandum of understanding to work together on developing an Israeli version
of L3Harris’ Sky Warden aircraft, also called the Skyraider II. The Sky Warden
was initially developed from the Air Tractor AT-802, which is used for
firefighting and agriculture.

“By combining IAI’s cutting-edge systems and expertise in mission
systems integration with L3Harris’ Sky Warden platform, we are delivering a
tailored solution that meets the evolving needs of the Ministry of Defense and
Israeli Air Force,”

he said, according to the statement.

The standard version of the Sky Warden is also being
produced by L3Harris for the US Special Operations Command.

The Air Tractor AT-802, the original version of the
aircraft, is already in use in Israel by the Fire and Rescue Service’s Elad
aerial firefighting squadron.

What are the Blue Sky Warden’s expected capabilities and
weapons load?

The Blue Sky Warden, developed through a collaboration
between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and U.S. contractor L3Harris, is
designed for  protean combat and surveillance. It features a  6,000-
pound  cargo capacity, with a focus on intelligence, surveillance,
surveillance( ISR), and  perfection strike capabilities. 

Its anticipated armament  cargo includes 
perfection- guided munitions  similar as AGM- 114 Hellfire dumdums, Joint
Direct Attack Munitions( JDAM), and potentially Israeli-specific munitions like
Spike NLOS dumdums. 

The aircraft boasts long abidance with a crawl time of
around 6 hours and can operate from rough, unpaved runways, making it suitable
for border security. It’s equipped with advanced detectors,  similar to
EO/ IR systems including Wescam MX- 15 and MX- 20, for medium- altitude, all-
rainfall operations, day or night.