Officials said the French Air Force has employed Harfang, which contains
automated take-off and landing, for reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan, Middle East Newsline reported.
They said the Harfang detachment consisted of 40 personnel, including 13
ground engineers, nine flight operators, intelligence officers and imagery
interpreters, and 18 military support personnel.
"The handling of the cameras in real time is the most sensitive and most
important mission of the pilot," the ministry said.
The Israeli UAV has been used to monitor villages, military compounds,
search for improvised explosive devices, escort convoys and determine safe
landing areas for helicopter operations. Officials said Harfang has provided
intelligence support to combat troops at all times.
In January 2010, Harfang was said to have detected Islamic insurgents
who were preparing to launch a rocket toward a NATO camp. The French Defense
Ministry said Harfang provided an alert that cleared the compound and
avoided casualties. Later, the insurgents were tracked and captured.
"The control of Harfang's communication and data dissemination network
is an indispensable factor for the optimization of the UAV's operation, as
it can thus transmit the collected imagery to users either in real time or
after a thorough analysis by intelligence specialists," the ministry said.
