Direct proof of use
Israel Aerospace Industries identified Heron TP, the Israeli Air Force's Eitan configuration, among the remotely piloted aircraft used by Israel during Operation Rising Lion. In its July 2025 operation summary, IAI said Heron and Heron TP aircraft operated over long ranges, remained airborne for extended periods, transmitted visual and electronic intelligence, and were integrated with an artificial-intelligence data-fusion system.
A later IAI article described the Heron family as maintaining a continuous combat presence over Iran during the 12-day campaign, with missions including long-range surveillance, target identification, rapid kill-chain closure, and battle-damage assessment. Calcalist separately reported that Israeli Air Force UAVs, including IAI's Heron TP and Elbit's Hermes 900, attacked about 500 targets in Iran during the war.
Sources: IAI Rising Lion Systems, IAI Heron Standards, Calcalist Israeli Drones in Iran
Timeline
Israel opened Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025. Official IDF background describes a 12-day campaign against Iranian nuclear infrastructure, missile production facilities, military headquarters, air-defense systems, and senior commanders, with fighter jets, intelligence units, aerial-defense forces, naval assets, and technological capabilities working together.
IAI's first post-operation summary on July 7, 2025 named Heron TP/Eitan in the Israeli unmanned aircraft force used in the 'third circle,' Israel's term for distant theaters such as Iran. On July 1, Calcalist reported that Air Force UAVs including Heron TP attacked targets in Iran. In November 2025, IAI added a longer Heron-family account that described missions more than 1,500 km from home base and a continuous combat presence over Iran.
Sources: IDF Rising Lion Background, IAI Rising Lion Systems, Calcalist Israeli Drones in Iran, IAI Heron Standards
Operational role
The public direct-use record places Heron TP/Eitan in the long-range unmanned layer of Israel's campaign over Iran. IAI's descriptions emphasize persistent airborne presence, visual and electronic intelligence, radar and wide-area surveillance, target identification and tracking, intelligence sharing, and battle-damage assessment. Those roles align with the parent Heron TP product profile, which describes the aircraft as a strategic MALE UAS for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance with beyond-line-of-sight control and endurance above 30 hours.
Calcalist adds a strike-use claim by reporting that Israeli Air Force UAVs including Heron TP attacked targets in Iran and helped prevent missile launches. The article attributes the broader UAV effect to Israeli defense officials and security sources, but it does not provide sortie-by-sortie target lists, munition types, or individual Heron TP strike locations. The source-backed record is therefore strongest for Israeli operation of Heron TP/Eitan in Iran and for its ISR, targeting-support, and battle-damage-assessment functions, with strike use attributed to Calcalist's Israeli defense reporting.
Sources: IAI Rising Lion Systems, IAI Heron Standards, HERON TP, Calcalist Israeli Drones in Iran
Campaign context
The Heron TP use formed part of a broader Israeli air and intelligence campaign. FPRI's open-source account describes Operation Rising Lion as a complex Israeli air offensive in June 2025 that targeted nuclear, missile, air-defense, and command infrastructure while establishing air superiority over relevant parts of Iran. Israel's Ministry of Defense later said Israeli-developed systems, digital capabilities, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, UAVs, space assets, and fighter-aircraft armaments supported the operation.
Public sources do not identify every Heron TP airframe, launch base, payload fit, or loss. IAI states that not all Heron-family aircraft returned home, while also saying the family achieved its assigned missions with low attrition. The detail record should therefore be read as a source-backed account of documented use and role categories, not a complete order of battle.
Sources: FPRI Rising Lion Air Offensive, Israel MOD Systems Evaluation, IAI Heron Standards
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