The Israeli defence ministry has placed a $47 million contract with Elbit Systems' Silver Arrow subsidiary for the supply of unspecified UAV systems over the next three years.
Silver Arrow is the primary supplier of advanced tactical UAV systems to the Israel Defence Force (IDF), which has been a pioneer in the operation of UAVs.
Parent company Elbit produces a wide range of UAV-related systems under the Hermes family name, including command and control ground stations, communications and advanced training systems as well as electro-optical payloads developed by El-Op.
The Hermes 450 is designed for long endurance, high-end ISTAR missions and has been described as a division-to-corps level UAV, while the newer Hermes 180 is a smaller design, a tactical close-range UAV said to be suited for brigade-to-division level use. The aircraft is designed for runway operation, or for catapult launch and parachute recovery.
The larger Hermes 1500 is a medium - altitude long - endurance (MALE) UAV, and is optimised to carry payloads up more than 26h.
Source: Flight Daily News
