Belgian Wings
Belgian Air Force, past and present.
The Aeronautical Reference Site - De Luchtvaart Referentie Site - Le site référence de l'Aéronautique
IAI - Eagle B-Hunter UAV
Twin-engine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
On December 10th, 1998 the Council of Ministers approved the acquisition of three B-Hunter UAV-systems, each consisting of 6 aircraft and two ground control stations. The three systems were build by the Eagle consortium (Sonaca, Thales and IAI/Malat) and are used for aerial surveillance & reconnaissance missions in operations (Tuzla, Federal Republic of Congo) as well as for nation support (environmental support and Industrial disasters). For the environmental support missions the B-Hunters are often deployed to Koksijde airbase. These sophisticated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) replace the first generation MBLE "Epervier" drones which were struck of charge at the end of September 1999. All aircraft are operational with the 80 UAV squadron at first based at Elsenborn in the Eastern part of Belgium but now transferred to Florennes airbase. All of the B-Hunter UAV's were withdrawn from use by 28 August 2020 awaiting the delivery (2023) of the General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian, 4 of which are on order together with 2 ground stations to be based at Florennes.
C/N
BH271
271
Date In
Jul 2002
Date Out
Jun 2010
History
271, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, destroyed in failed parachute landing at De Moeren on 16 June 2010.
C/N
BH272
272
Date In
Jul 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
272, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH273
273
Date In
Jul 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
273, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH274
274
Date In
Jul 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
274, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH275
275
Date In
-
Date Out
-
History
Crashed during test phase in Israel on 30 Aug 2000.
C/N
BH276
276
Date In
Jul 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
276, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH277
277
Date In
Jul 2002
Date Out
Oct 2006
History
277, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, crashed after take-off at Kinshasa (DRC) on 3 Oct 2006
C/N
BH278
278
Date In
Dec 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
278, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH279
279
Date In
Dec 2002
Date Out
May 2006
History
279, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, crashed on landing at Elsenborn on 5 May 2006
C/N
BH280
280
Date In
Sep 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
280, 80 Bie UAV, 80Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH281
281
Date In
Feb 2004
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
281, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH282
282
Date In
Sep 2002
Date Out
Jun 2007
History
282, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, written off at Elsenborn on 05 Jun 2007.
C/N
BH283
283
Date In
Dec 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
283, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020, transferred on 26 Mar 2021 to Elsenborn to be displayed.
C/N
BH284
284
Date In
Sep 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
284, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH285
285
Date In
Dec 2002
Date Out
Jul 2006
History
285, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, written off at Kinshasa (DRC) on 27 Jul 2006
C/N
BH286
286
Date In
Sep 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
286, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020, recruiting object Brustem (2021), preserved Brustem (2022).
C/N
BH287
287
Date In
Sep 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
287, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020, to Saffraanberg Royal Techn. School as instructional airframe on 18 Mar 2021.
C/N
BH288
288
Date In
Sep 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
288, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020
C/N
BH289
289
Date In
Dec 2002
Date Out
Aug 2020
History
289, 80 Bie UAV, 80 Sqn UAV, Withdrawn from use 28 Aug 2020