In May, Airservices Australia, an government-owned company that coordinates air traffic in this country, signed an agreement with the RAAF to let some military drones fly beyond restricted airspace, giving it more room to roam and letting us know how it works in real military exercises. Freed from legal restrictions, the RAAF is flying the drone along its eastern coast in preparation for joint military exercises with the United States.

“Talisman Sabre” is an annual military American/Australian military exercise (and somehow not an arcade game from the 1980s). The Twitter account logo for the exercise prominently features tanks, Super Hornet fighter jets, V-22 Ospreys, and an aircraft carrier. Joining those vehicles this year will be Israeli-made Heron drones, used by the Australian armed forces.

The Heron takes a crew of up to eight to fly, including a pilot, and doesn't carry any weapons. It can fly for up to 24 hours, with a maximum speed of 185 km/h and at heights of around 30,000 feet. Australia has two. They're intended as placeholders until America is ready to export its Triton drone, a maritime version of the long-flying Global Hawk. The Triton contract is slow-moving, so for now, it makes sense to practice for war with what's on hand, and that includes the Heron.