Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Israel Aerospace Industries
- Origin / production countries
- Israel
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- See the named configuration and evidence notes
- Operators / programme customers
- Customers not named in the reviewed production announcement
Evidence & current status
Public sources establish the programme and advertised configuration. Specifications are attributed claims, not independently certified performance.
BirdEye 650D is a small fixed-wing surveillance aircraft from Israel Aerospace Industries. It uses a fuel engine to support longer flights than many battery-powered systems of comparable size. The manufacturer describes a mobile ground system and day and night observation payloads, with a launcher and parachute recovery arrangement reducing dependence on a runway.
IAI announced serial production in June 2016 after receiving multiple customer orders. That is a concrete production milestone, but the release does not name the customers or establish the size of present-day operational fleets. The catalogue therefore distinguishes production evidence from a verified operator inventory.
The current product page gives a thirty-kilogram maximum take-off mass and a 5.5-kilogram payload allowance. Its 150-kilometre range is a system operating figure, not evidence that every payload can be carried for the maximum fifteen-hour endurance at that distance. BirdEye 650D should also remain distinct from earlier BirdEye models. Its role is persistent tactical information collection, with commercial and public-safety applications described alongside its military purpose.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Small fixed-wing tactical UAS | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Pneumatic launcher; parachute and airbag recovery | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Gasoline internal-combustion engine | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | Wingspan 4 m | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Mass | Maximum take-off weight 30 kg | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Up to 15 hours | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Range | 150 km manufacturer operating range | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 40 KTAS loiter; 80 KTAS maximum | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | 15,000 ft AGL, as stated by manufacturer | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Maximum 5.5 kg | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Stabilised day/night imaging payload | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Serial production announced
IAI reported production following orders from multiple unnamed customers.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.