Israel Aerospace Industries and Thales have carried out risk reduction flight tests of a NATO-standard data link on board IAI’s Heron unmanned air vehicle.

Thales’s TMA 6000 data link terminal and Elbit Systems subsidiary Elisra’s radio frequency modules and antennas have been integrated on board the Heron UAV and were successfully demonstrated in flight during tests in Israel, a Thales press release says.

During the flight test, both visual and infrared videos were transmitted in real time to the ground control station and the sensors were controlled in real time from the ground.

Heron Thales NATO datalink test - IAI

Israel Aerospace Industries

The TMA 6000 offers a throughput capability of 137 MB/s, and complies with NATO STANAG 7085. This is the waveform standard for real-time transmission of videos, images and other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data from onboard sensors to dedicated ISR stations, Thales notes.

Compliance ensures NATO interoperability and guarantees radio frequency authorisation in full alignment with the International Telecommunications Union regulation, as well as high resistance to jamming and interception, the company adds.

Source: FlightGlobal.com