Herti

Herti from UK, produced by BAE Systems

Introduce:

HERTI stands for “High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion” and was developed in Warton, United Kingdom. The HERTI airframe is based on the J-6 Fregata motor glider designed by Jaroslaw Janowski of J&AS Aero Design in Poland. Its first flight was in December 2004 at the Australian Woomera test range where much of the test flight programme has been undertaken. HERTI was also the first UAV to fly in the UK with the flight being certified by the Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom).

The first vehicles had a maximum takeoff weight of 450 kilograms (990 lb) and a payload of about 150 kilograms (330 lb). However the first production example will, according to Flight International, weigh about 750 kilograms (1,650 lb). The first production example will be delivered by Slingsby Aviation to BAE Systems at the end of November 2007. The endurance of the production variant is up to 20 hours.

An armed version, the BAE Fury, was announced in 2008.