asian defence

Elbit Systems says it has successfully flight-tested its Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicles from one ground control station, greatly enhancing the operational flexibility of the long-range drones amid a growing global market for the aircraft.

The tests underlined how Israel's high-tech defense industry is developing a wide range of unmanned robot systems for air, land and sea. These include Nahshson, a remote-controlled land vehicle that can tote 2 tons of cargo.

This is an advanced variant of the Guardium robot vehicle developed by G-NIUS Unmanned Ground Systems, a joint venture by Elbit and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries. The Guardium has been in operated by the Israeli military since 2008.



Elbit said the Hermes tests were conducted from the company's new universal ground control station using a single operator for both UAVs.
"Joint flight control and management of two different unmanned aircraft systems provides users with enhanced operational flexibility, adapting each UAS to a specific mission and enabling management of highly complex missions in diverse arenas," Elbit said.

The Hermes 450 is a tactical long-endurance UAV that is the backbone of the Israeli air force's drone fleet, with more than 200,000 operational flight hours.

It's capable of flying at altitudes up to 20,000 feet. The latest variant is quieter than its predecessors and carries a heavier payload.
The Hermes 900 has longer endurance, a silenced engine, a maximum altitude of 30,000 feet and a larger payload capacity of 770 pounds.
Israel's defense industry has become a major producer of UAVs, along with the United States.

According to Jacques Chemia, chief engineer of IAI's UAV division, "Israel is the world's leading exporter of drones, with more than 1,000 sold in 42 countries."

Under a ground-breaking April 2009 contract with Moscow, worth $53 million, IAI, flagship of Israel's defense industry, sold Russia 12 short-range Bird-Eye 400, I-View MK150 and long-range Searcher II UAVs.

It was Russia's first purchase of a foreign weapons system and emphasized its technology shortfall following the sharp reduction of spending on research and development in the 1990s when the Cold War ended.
That contract led to a $400 million deal between IAI and Russia's Oboronprom OPK Group in October under which the Russians will eventually manufacture the Heron 1, one of Israel's most advanced UAVs capable of strategic missions.

IAI has developed the more advanced Heron TP, dubbed the Eitan which is Hebrew for "Strong."

This long-range UAV weight 4.5 tons, has a wingspan of 86 feet -- about that same as a Boeing 737 airliner -- and can stay aloft for 20 hours at high altitude.

This unique UAV, a major technological breakthrough for the Israelis, has a 1,200 horsepower turbojet, a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet and can carry hundreds of pounds of equipment, such as high-resolution cameras, electronic surveillance systems and presumably weapons.

The Heron TP is capable of reaching Iran, although it's not known whether it has done so on surveillance missions, or whether it can be refueled in air.
The Hermes 900 is also reported to be able to reach Iran.
The ground-based robot systems are now widely deployed with the Israeli military. The Guardium has notched up thousands of operational hours since 2008.

The Nahshon, the latest UGV being developed by UGS, is able to operate on its own in combat zones. The Nahshon team believes it is close to producing a completely autonomous guidance system for the cargo vehicle.
Guardium and other UGVs are used to reinforce the remote-controlled gun and sensor towers or patrol areas along Israel's borders with troubled Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Amid the upheaval in Egypt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the construction of a security barrier along a 90-mile stretch of the border with Egypt to be speeded up.
This, originally intended to keep out illegal African immigrants, could have remote-control guard towers as well and be patrolled by UGVs.
Over recent years, the Israeli military has automated much of its security along the Lebanese and Gaza borders.

This includes the Sentry-Tech armored watchtowers, 15 feet high and 6 feet in diameter, that are topped with remote-control machine gun turrets and night-vision video cameras. The latest addition is radar that can penetrate fog.

By Jung Sung-ki

Korea promised to transfer technology for its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), following its successful bid to build four nuclear reactors in the Middle East nation, a government source said Thursday. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young made the commitment during his visit to the UAE in November to discuss bilateral defense issues as well as to support the landmark $20 billion deal, the source told The Korea Times.

Kim also offered to provide key arms technologies related to the homegrown Hyunmoo ballistic and cruise missiles to the UAE as part of efforts to expand defense cooperation between the two countries, he said on condition of anonymity.Technology on an electromagnetic pulse bomb (EMP) is among the key items for cooperation promised by Korea, said the source.

The state-funded Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has been pushing to develop the bomb capable of neutralizing an enemy's command-and-control, communications and defense radar systems.EMPs can severely disrupt electronic equipment, which is susceptible to damage by transient power surges. An EMP attack is generated by a very short, intense energy pulse or high-altitude nuclear blast.

The agency plans to complete the development by 2014. "The UAE asked Korea to provide such key arms technologies as part of the package deal for the reactor contract," the source said. "Korea's positive response to the request played an important role in sealing the deal."

Speculation has been growing after the agreement that there could have been some behind-the-scene promises to satisfy the UAE needs. At that time, Seoul's defense ministry declined to elaborate, only saying the two sides exchanged views on ways to expand bilateral defense cooperation programs. As for the UAV, Korea will offer the technology on the Night Intruder-300, also known as RQ-101, built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), according to the source.

KAI built the RQ-101 corps-level battlefield-reconnaissance UAV between 2001 and 2004. The Korean Army bought five sets of RQ-101s, with each set including six aircraft, a launcher and a ground-control station. KAI is also discussing the sale of the RQ-101 to Libya.The RQ-101 has a service ceiling of 4.5 kilometers and a cruise speed of 120 to 150 kilometers per hour. The 215-kilogram aircraft has a service radius of 200 kilometers and can operate for up to six hours in the air.

The UAV is capable of multipurpose operations to perform missions like wide area surveillance, reconnaissance, target acquisition, bombing guidance, battlefield supervision and checking target break-down. It is also possible to transfer real-time images, especially in unfavorable environments during day and night.

Some observers say, however, potential exports of the RQ-101 to either the UAE or Libya could cause a political or diplomatic row between South Korea and Israel given the ground-control station for the UAV was developed with technical assistance from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

IAI offered the technology when it sold its Searcher II UAVs to South Korea.Referred missile technologies are related to those for the 300-kilometer-range Hyunmoo-II ballistic missile and the 1,000-kilometer-range Hyunmoo-III surface-to-surface cruise missile developed by the ADD and LIG Nex1.

The Hyunmoo-III missiles have been operational with the Army since last year. The Hyunmoo-III can hit targets with a margin of error of plus or minus five meters aided by a Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) system.