Israel Aerospace Industries Licenses Harpy Loitering Munitions to U.S. Firm Palladyne AI for Domestic Production and Army Bid

Israel Aerospace Industries has exclusively licensed Palladyne AI to build its Harpy, Harop and Mini-Harpy attack drones in the United States, the companies announced on June 8, 2026. U.S. requirements and add its autonomous swarming AI software.

U.S. Army’s Long Range Precision Munitions competition this fall. The LRPM sources-sought notice seeks a precise, long-range capability greater than 100 km against Integrated Air Defense Systems.

The notice anticipates awarding a prototype Other Transaction Agreement in October 2026 worth $100-$200 million. The Harpy/Harop family was first fielded in the 1980s and has a combat-proven record of success against Integrated Air Defense Systems, according to IAI and Palladyne.

Harpy and Harop have a wingspan of not quite seven feet, can carry enough fuel for up to 9 hours of flight, and carry a 30-pound-plus explosive warhead.

Mini-Harpy is much smaller. Harpy is a long-range anti-radiation weapon designed to detect and home in on enemy radar emissions, while Harop uses different types of sensors for different types of targets. Palladyne is offering its SwarmOS artificial intelligence software as an upgrade to the Harpy/Harop drones.

CEO Ben Wolff said SwarmOS can run on the drones’ existing hardware with no modifications, just some straightforward software engineering. He said SwarmOS would allow the drones to share sensor data with each other, other aircraft, ground vehicles, and control consoles running compatible software.

Wolff said there are budgeted line items that have funding but have not turned into specific programs of record yet.