India's strategic drone capabilities take center stage in Pakistan strikes
The Indian Air Force's raid on targets in Pakistan during the night of May 6 to 7, 2025, was supported by "kamikaze" drone attacks. Here's what the Indians utilized for the attack.
The Pakistanis claim to have shot down several "kamikaze" drones, including Polish Warmate drones and Israeli HAROP drones. These are long-range drones carrying substantial payloads, also used to target air defense radars.
IAI HAROP drones — a flying bomb with a 998-kilometre range
The HAROP drone was first showcased at the Aero India exhibition in 2009, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and it is an advanced version of the smaller HARPY drone. It can loiter over a battlefield, waiting for an appropriate target, which it destroys using its warhead.
The IAI HAROP is a large drone weighing about 136 kilograms, capable of staying in the air for 9 hours at an altitude of up to 4,572 metres. Its range is about 998 kilometres, and communication is possible over a distance of up to 200 kilometres. Beyond this distance, the drone operates autonomously after pre-loading the coordinates, appearance of the target, and search area.
HAROP — can also hunt down air defense radars
Furthermore, the IAI HAROP is equipped with a system for targeting radio emission sources, allowing it to attack, for example, anti-aircraft system radars or communication masts, similar to AGM-88 HARM missiles. Additionally, it features an electro-optical head with a thermal camera, permitting precise targeting of the drone with an accuracy below 1 metre.
This precision, along with a 16-kilogram fragmentation warhead, ensures high effectiveness against soft targets, light fortifications, and even floating objects.
Israeli sources emphasize that their drone is characterized by good stealth (RCS below 0.5 square metres), which is crucial for attacks on targets within enemy territory. The HAROP is capable of attacking from any angle, even vertically. The drone also allows for the attack to be aborted if necessary, after which it returns to loitering over the area, waiting for another target.
HAROP drones have been purchased by India, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, who used them in recent conflicts with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, and now India has employed some against Pakistan.
