(Globes) Felix Frisch - The UK Ministry of Defense announced last week that it had selected Thales UK, Boeing, and Elbit Systems of Israel to supply unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the British Army Watchkeeper ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) program. The tender is worth an estimated $1.5 billion. Elbit Systems' share in the UK program is likely to be large, since it owns most of the avionics and payload technologies. Elbit's Hermes 180 has a maximum take-off weight of 200 kg, ten hours flight endurance, and a 150-km range. The Hermes 450 has a 450-kg take-off weight, can reach an altitude of 6,000 meters, a range of several hundred kilometers, and 20 hours flight endurance.
2004-07-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive