UAVs of the future: small, lightweight, silent, stealthy and feature advanced payloads
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עברית (Hebrew)
The name of the game in today’s world of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is technology miniaturization and focusing most of the effort in small systems capable of operating silently up in the air, but large UAVs are also making great strides.
Most tactical missions do not call for a flight altitude of 20,000 feet and carrying a heavy-duty camera – because you can get to the destination and the target by deploying a small, compact, silent UAV flying at a low altitude using an electric engine and carrying a state of the art dedicated payload complete with a camera and advanced sensors.
AERONAUTICS (with 700 employees) is unique in that it is a one stop shop for both development and manufacturing the entire envelope: the software as well as the hardware – dedicated payloads, avionics, composite materials, and so on. Deputy CEO Danny Eshchar says limited size is a marketing edge when it comes to today’s UAVs. He cites several examples: Finland purchased 250 small Orbiter 2-type systems, as did a customer in Poland. So far, Orbitet models, along with AERONAUTICS’ solutions and other UASs, have been purchased by some 40 customers in total, 35 customers worldwide. Deputy CEO Eshchar would not elaborate on customers such as the IDF or the Israeli Air Force.
This ’one stop shop’ principle is also applied in AERONAUTICS’ subsidiaries. Together, they complete the entire product cycle, complete with all its elements and parts:
- Commtact: manufactures communications solutions, including those installed in the Iron Dome system.
- Controp: develops and manufactures a large variety of dedicated payloads. Jointly owned by AERONAUTICS’ and RAFAEL.
- ZANZOTERA: a fully-Owned AERONAUTICS subsidiary in Italy – manufactures internal combustion engines.
- RT: provides intelligence gathering solutions in the form of hovering aerostats at altitudes of 100 to 600 meters, complete with dedicated payloads of 1.5 kg to 35 kg. Aerostats, which are capable of carrying payloads such as radars, relays, launch-detectors and so on, are designed for military operations, civilian tasks and HLS missions at a maximal radius of 25 km.
Unmanned systems conference 2014 – Israel
AERONAUTICS’ UAVs by size:
- Orbiter 2 – maximal takeoff weight of 10kg, endurance of 4 hours and a communications range of 100 km.
- Orbiter 3 – maximal takeoff weight of 30kg, endurance of 7 hours and a communications range of 150 km.
Two large UAVs:
- AEROSTAR – maximal takeoff weight of 250kg, endurance of 12 hours and a communications range of 300 km. Features automatic takeoff and landing. Dedicated payloads: Electro-Optics, radar, COMINT and EW (Electronic Warfare). According to the company’s website, the AEROSTAR was jointly developed in the framework of full cooperation with IDF Military Intelligence. It has been sold to both the IDF and the US Navy.
- DOMINATOR – maximal flight altitude of 30 thousand feet, endurance of 24 hours.
Deputy CEO Eshchar, an avid supporter of small UAVs: “take the Orbiter 3, for example. It has a 150-km range and an endurance of 7 hours. You do not need a military airbase, it does not require a runway. A small ground launcher – saves infrastructure, operated by a team of 3, features a cooled night and day payload, takes footage and operated at an altitude of over 1km. it is Simple to operate, stealthily low-noise thanks to its electric engine. These are the features clients in search of UASs are after today.”
AEROSTAR supplies the Orbiter 2 and 3 not only to armed forces, but also to customers in the HLS sector, for missions such as perimeter defense, strategic infrastructure security, oil and gas installations, military bases, border posts, law enforcement forces and police facilities.
