The Mini Harpy is a loitering munition produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. The Mini Harpy combines the capabilities of IAI’s two flagship loitering munitions, the Harop and the Harpy, bringing together the ability to lock on to radiation-emitting threats like radar with man-in-the-loop electro-optical guidance, the Company said in a release. The suicide drone, like its larger counterpart, flies over an area until a target is spotted. Upon detection, the system locks in on the threat and attacks it for a quick, lethal closure. The system was designed to provide operators with control up to the last moment, including cessation of attack at any stage
The Mini Harpy is a tactical system that can be launched from land, marine and helicopter-borne platforms. The system was designed to provide operators with maximum control, including abort and re-attack capabilities. Electrically powered, it can loiter quietly in ranges of up to 100 km for up to two hours. The Mini Harpy weighs 45 kg and can carry a shaped charge of approx. 8 kg (17.6-pound). The mini Harpy combines the capabilities of IAI’s Harop and the Harpy. The Harpy can carry a 32-kilogram (70-pound) warhead while the Harop has a 23-kilogram (51-pound) warhead and a range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
Boaz Levy, Executive VP and General Manager of IAI Systems, Missiles & Space Group, said, “In an age of asymmetrical warfare and fast moving targets that ‘blink’ for a few seconds at a time, the use of loitering munitions provides strong capabilities for closing the fire loop. Rather than relying on precise reference points, the system we developed loiters in the air waiting for the target to appear and then attacks and destroys the hostile threat within seconds. The Mini Harpy is unique in its beam detection and optical capabilities, a combination of two of our loitering munition systems that sold thousands of units in Israel and abroad.
