TEL AVIV — Turkey's military has ignored prohibitions from its government and returned to Israel for unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Officials said the Turkish delegation, which included more than 20 officers, would test the performance of the Heron medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned platforms, which can operate for up to 50 hours at a time. They said Heron has been the leading UAV used by the Turkish military in the current offensive in Iraq. Australia, Canada, France and Germany have deployed or ordered Heron for the NATO stabilization campaign in Afghanistan.

In April 2010, Turkey received six of 10 Heron UAVs ordered in a $190 million deal with IAI and Elbit Systems. The remaining four platforms have been assembled and are awaiting final trials before delivery.

Officials said the last four Herons were expected to arrive in Turkey in July. They said the Turkish military, which has been operating the Herons without Israeli assistance, has expressed satisfaction with the UAV's performance, particularly in operations against the Kurdish Workers Party in northern Iraq.

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