An additional leasing contract has been given to the German military for operating the Israel Aerospace Industries' Heron surveillance unmanned aerial systems in Afghanistan until February 2018. Active in Afghanistan since 2010, the Herons have recently reached 30,000 operational flight hours in the "Masar A Sharif" area, according to reports by the German Air Force, the Heron operator in Afghanistan. During a number of years of activity in Afghanistan, the Heron has served a variety of other North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, among them France, Canada and Australia.
Due to its successful operations in Afghanistan, the German Air Force is presently operating the Heron in Mali as part of a United Nations policing mission.