(FlightGlobal-UK) Murdo Morrison - From medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) platforms to loitering munitions and miniature reconnaissance types weighing a few kilograms, Israel has been a leader in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for decades. Israel's constant need to watch over hostile neighbors has spawned a home-grown capability that has kept the nation safe and turned companies such as Aeronautics, Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) into prolific exporters of the technology. Israel's big two aerospace and defense contractors - Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), with its flagship Heron, and Elbit, behind the Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 - dominate the MALE market. Aeronautics, owned by Israel's Rafael, specializes in small, tactical UAVs. IAI's Heron is used by the Israeli air force and more than 20 other customers worldwide. Its new Rotax 915 model has a "wider and stronger body structure" that allows additional payload, including larger sensors that allow it to "gather intelligence from tens of km. away without crossing borders." Loitering munitions such as the IAI Harpy address the need to "hit targets that you know are there, but not exactly where, because they might be relocatable."
2020-03-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive