Watchkeeper UAV has first flight in UK civil airspace
Thales UK and Israel’s Elbit Systems have successfully demonstrated the Hermes 450 unmanned air vehicle that will form the basis of the UK’s future Watchkeeper intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) system for the first time in UK civil airspace.
Conducted from the Welsh Development Agency-supported ParcAberporth UAV centre of excellence on 1 September, the flight marked the first use of an unmanned aircraft weighing more than 150kg (330lb) in non-segregated UK airspace.
Designated “UAV Silver 01”, the 450kg air vehicle was the first to operate in the UK with a supplied passenger manifest of zero, says Thales. Several further flights were conducted from the ParcAberporth site before concluding with a public demonstration there on 7 September. The earlier flights included an extensive demonstration of the Elbit air vehicle’s Elop Compass IV electro-optic/infrared payload to officials from the UK Ministry of Defence, with the system believed to be among candidates under consideration to equip the British Army’s Future Lynx battlefield rotorcraft.
The Hermes 450 will form the basis for the Watchkeeper system’s WK450 air vehicle, which Thales says will have automatic take-off and landing and dual payload capabilities and will be equipped with a modified wing capable of operating in icing conditions. Elbit has already tested a modified wing in an icing tunnel, but declines to detail its plans to flight-test the modification. The UK UAV system, worth £700 million ($1.3 billion), will also use a modified ground control station contained within a 20ft (6m) ISO container with between two and four operators.
Thales will complete certification activities and deliver its first WK450 air vehicles to the UK Ministry of Defence in 2009, says Alex Creswell, the company’s vice-president for ISTAR and UAV systems. Initial operations will take place only in controlled airspace, such as the Cardigan Bay training area near ParcAberporth, but should eventually advance to include routine flights in non-segregated airspace.
Thales plans to open a Leicester-based joint venture company with Elbit to develop and manufacture the Watchkeeper system, and has already held talks with several allied countries with potential interest in acquiring new or replacement tactical UAV systems.
Elbit also flew its bungee-launched Skylark UAV at ParcAberporth on 5 September, although the lightweight system was unable to fly during the public demonstration because of poor weather conditions.
Source: Flight International
