Role & capabilities
- Loitering munition
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Loitering munition
- 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
- Three unnamed NATO customers under 2023 contracts; delivery status not individually established
Evidence & current status
Public sources establish the programme and advertised configuration. Specifications are attributed claims, not independently certified performance.
ROTEM is IAI’s small vertical-take-off loitering munition, using a multirotor layout rather than the fixed wings of HARPY and HAROP. It carries day and night imaging equipment and can be recovered when a mission ends without expenditure. Its combination of observation and an expendable payload places it in the loitering munition category, while its physical handling resembles other small rotary-wing drones.
In June 2023, IAI announced separate contracts with three NATO countries. The countries were not named in the announcement, so this profile does not turn the contract count into a speculative operator list. IAI also described previous combat use, but that remains a supplier account in the reviewed evidence.
The release gives thirty minutes of flight endurance and a range up to ten kilometres. It also mentions a much longer waiting duration; that is not treated here as continuous powered flight or hover. The distinction matters when comparing ROTEM with surveillance quadcopters. Specifications, orders and actual deliveries are recorded separately, and no unstated production quantity is inferred from the financial description of the contracts.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Multirotor loitering munition | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source |
| Launch / recovery | VTOL; recovery possible if not expended | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source |
| Propulsion | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Mass | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Endurance | 30 minutes of flight | Longer waiting-duration wording in release is not counted as continuous powered flight. Source |
| Range | Up to 10 km | Manufacturer-published figure; configuration and conditions may affect performance. Source |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Payload | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Sensors | Day and night electro-optical sensors | 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
NATO contracts announced
IAI reported contracts with three unnamed NATO countries.
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.