With its neighbors Pakistan and China developing indigenous UAVs, India has asked Israel to speed the delivery of 10 medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Heron TPs to the Indian Air Force, valued at $400 million at list price. The armed Herons will join the service’s existing fleet of UAVs and are expected to enter service by late 2016.

The IAF already has a large fleet of IAI Searcher and Heron I unmanned aircraft, Harpy UAVs designed to attack radar systems and the expendable Harop, a loitering weapon designed to attack surface targets. It is contemplating forming a “weapon systems cadre” that will include drones and weapons managed by pilots. “The difference will now be that [pilots] will be inducted and promoted as a squad unlike in the past,” the service said.

In March, Pakistan flight-tested the “indigenously developed” Burraq, a MALE unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), hitting moving targets with the Barq laser-guided missile, which is analogous to the Chinese AR-1. The Burraq gained attention in September when Pakistan’s army claimed  to have used it to kill militants in that country’s uneasy tribal regions.

The Heron TP, known by the Israeli Air Force as the Eitan, is an all-weather capable reconnaissance UAV powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprop engine. It has a payload capacity of up to 1,000 kg (2,204 pounds) that can be fitted with a host of sensors. With a maximum takeoff weight of 5000 kg (11,023 pounds), it can reach altitudes higher than commercial aircraft, according to IAI. “The Heron TPs will serve more as a deterrent,” replacing ground troops for special missions along India’s borders, an air force official told AIN.

At the Paris Air Show in June, IAI announced that it is enhancing the Heron TP with long-range persistent surveillance and area dominance capabilities by integrating it with the advanced M-19HD multi-spectral, multi-sensor payload developed and produced by the company’s IAI Tamam division.