The Elang Hitam () is an

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

(UAV) and

Medium-altitude long-endurance UAV A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/products/falco-xplorer Thi ...

(MALE) being developed by

Indonesian Aerospace Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) (), is an Indonesian aerospace company involved in aircraft design and the development and manufacture of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft, and a subsidiary of state-owned electronics manufacturer . Th ...

(IAe / PT DI) in cooperation with a consortium of six other institutions. This drone was first shown on 30 December 2019 at the IAe hangar in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

. The Elang Hitam is the result of collaboration in the formation of a consortium consisting of the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT),

National Institute of Aeronautics and Space The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (, LAPAN) was the Indonesian government's space agency. It was established on 27 November 1963, by former Indonesian president Sukarno, after one year's existence of a previous, informal space ...

(LAPAN),

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force (, sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF) is the Air force, aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The Indonesian Air Force is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is headed by the Chief of Staff of th ...

Bandung Institute of Technology The Bandung Institute of Technology (; , abbreviated as ITB) is a public research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. It has produced many notable leaders in science, engineering, politics, business, academia, and culture. ITB is one of th ...

(ITB), Indonesian Aerospace, and PT LEN Industri.

Development history

The development of a

MALE Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

UCAV was initiated by the Ministry of Defense's Research and Development department in 2015. The UAV was designed for the needs of the Indonesian Air Force. The development started with preliminary design and basic design, which was marked with the construction of a wind tunnel model and its test in 2016. Another wind tunnel model was constructed and tested in 2018. A consortium consisted of Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), Directorate General of Defense Potential of Ministry of Defense, Indonesian Air Force,

(ITB), Indonesian Aerospace, and PT LEN Industri was formed in 2017. In 2019, LAPAN entered as a member of the consortium, and took part in the development of the MALE UCAV. During development, the UAV was formerly known as (). The first prototype was rolled out on 30 December 2019 at the Indonesian Aerospace hangar. Indonesian Aerospace planned to built two more prototypes in 2020. The first prototype would be used for pre-certification developmental testing, with the other two to be used for test flights and structural tests, respectively. Two more additional prototypes were planned be constructed, in total five prototypes would be built. First flight is expected to take place at the end of 2020. The Elang Hitam, according to its development plan, will be armed with missiles and capable of flying up to 30 hours non-stop with a cruising altitude of up to 23,000 ft. The specification is said to match the Chinese-made CH-4 Rainbow drone. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first flight which was originally scheduled to fly for the first time in 2020 has been postponed to August 2021. The first flight was attempted in December 2021, but it failed. Two members of the Elang Hitam consortium, BPPT and LAPAN, was dissolved in September 2021 and merged into

National Research and Innovation Agency The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN, ) is a cabinet-level agency of the Indonesian government, formed in 2019. Originally a new agency attached to the Ministry of Research and Technology, which became the Ministry of Research and ...

(BRIN). On 1 June 2022, PT LEN Industri contract to develop Elang Hitam mission system is renewed by Indonesian Defense Ministry. On 17 July 2022, Indonesia announced a collaboration with Turkey to manufacture air-to-surface missiles that can be easily mounted on UAVs. Chairman of BRIN

Laksana Tri Handoko Laksana Tri Handoko (born 7 May 1968, in Malang) is an Indonesian scientist and public official specializing in theoretical and particle physics. He formerly served as the deputy head of science and technology for the Indonesian Institute of Scie ...

stated that development of the Elang Hitam as a military platform was discontinued as of 15 September 2022. The cancellation were due to its failed test flight attempt in December 2021 and difficulties on acquiring key technologies from foreign partners. Instead, the Elang Hitam would be repurposed for civilian use. In October 2024, the Defense Industrial Policy Committee (KKIP) decided that the development of Elang Hitam was returned as a UCAV for military purposes. Elang Hitam successfully carried out its maiden flight at Kertajati Airport, West Java on 28 July 2025.

Specifications

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Video of Elang Hitam maiden flight on 28 July 2025
{{Indonesian Aerospace aircraft Elang Hitam Unmanned aerial vehicles of Indonesia Aircraft first flown in 2025 2020s Indonesian military reconnaissance aircraft 2020s Indonesian attack aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Single-engined piston aircraft Aircraft with tricycle landing gear V-tail aircraft Low-wing aircraft