During the night of June 5-6, 2013, a Harfang UAV carried out the 100th sortie in support of Operation Serval, France’s current military mission in Mali. Deployed since January 17 in support of French operations in Mali, the Harfang detachment of UAV Squadron 1/33 “Belfort” has flown a total of a little over 1,600 flight hours, by day and night.

Since the start of operations in Mali, Harfang drones are regularly engaged in operations supporting French ground forces. Providing a substantial contribution to the collection of information on the theater through its sensors and its persistence in the area, Harfang also contributes to the acquisition of targets by air force and navy aircraft.

The detachment has taken part in all the different phases of Operation Serval, throughout the entire theatre. It has flown over one hundred operational flights in a broad spectrum of missions and has contributed significantly to the tactical successes of Operation Serval.