Israel: Continuing developments in tactical UAV systems

UAV PROGRAMME OVERVIEWS: ISRAEL
Israel: Continuing developments in
tactical UAV systems
Israel has been using UAVs in combat since the early
1970s. So it is hardly surprising that since Israel Aircraft
Industries (IAI) and Tadiran produced their first UAVs for
the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Air Force and Army
Intelligence, the country’s aerospace and defence
industry should have developed a wide-ranging
capability that currently addresses almost every military
and civil application. At the same time, Israeli experience
and engineering innovation has influenced other UAV
development programmes around the world The
relatively limited national market means many of the
companies in the sector continue to pursue industrial
partnerships and international marketing and coproduction agreements.
Operational experience has led the IDF to rate endurance
and size, which translates into payload or weapons fit,
rather than speed as the most critical characteristics for
UCAVs. They are also going further than almost every
other advanced nation in considering the conversion of
currently manned fighters to unmanned operation.
Systems reliability is a subject of deep concern to Israeli
military planners, and the potential installation of a total
health and usage monitoring system (T-HUMS) on large
UAVs is under evaluation. Integration of UAVs into civil
airspace management systems continues to be a
problem that requires careful balancing of safety and
national/military security issues - a balance yet to achieve
equilibrium in Israel, where the national airspace is
controlled by the military. With these and other major
developments in UAV fielding, deployment and
operation, Israel continues to provide the manufacturing
and user community with innovative and far-reaching
ideas for the integration of unmanned systems into
routine military and para-military applications.
Elbit Systems’ Silver Arrow subsidiary is currently the IDF’s
principal supplier of UAVs. Its Hermes family of light and
Hermes 1500 - Elbit Systems, Israel
120
heavy battlefield intelligence gatherers carry payloads
ranging from 35 kg to 350 kg. The latter is the capacity
of the Hermes 1500 MALE, which has an endurance of
over 24 hours and whose twin 100-hp Rotax engines
enable it to cruise at 80-120 knots. Payload power
available is 9.8 kW.
The medium-size Hermes 450 uses the same ground
control station as the Hermes 1500. With a 52 hp UEL
rotary engine, it provides 1.6 kVA to power payloads
weighing up to 150 kg; they include the Tesar synthetic
aperture radar, the DSP-1 stabilised day/night electrooptical sensor, described as suitable for low-end
performance requirements, and the high-end Compass,
which mounts FLIR, black and white or colour CCD
camera and optional laser rangefinder in a multistabilised platform. Hermes 450 is in IDF service and has
been sold to Botswana. Through its US subsidiary, EFW
Inc, Elbit was contracted in July 2004 to provide the US
Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) with its Hermes 450 UAV to support
the Arizona Border Control Initiative (ABCI) along the
Mexican Border in a series of tests which ended in
September of the same year. The short-range Hermes
180 tactical UAV is also entering service with the IDF and
has been selected along with the Hermes 450 for the
UK’s Watchkeeper requirement, after Thales UK with
which Elbit Systems Silver Arrow is in partnership were
awarded the programme in July 2004. Some speculation
exists as to whether the Hermes 180 will be dropped
from the programme as it has been suggested that the
Hermes 450 is able to fulfil the requirements of both
platforms. The Hermes 180’s 38 hp UEL rotary gives it an
endurance of more than 10 hours and provides 1.2 kVA
for a payload weighing up to 32 kg; launch is by
catapult and recovery by parachute and airbag. All three
Hermes models share a common redundant avionics
package.
Hermes 450 - Elbit Systems, Israel
UAV PROGRAMME OVERVIEWS: ISRAEL
Hermes Control Station –
Elbit Systems, Israel
Skylark - Elbit Systems, Israel
In February 2004 Elbit announced the selection by the
IMoD of its Skylark advanced mini-UAV system for the
IDF ground forces. Skylark is a man-pack configuration
designed for day and night observation and “over the
hill“ data collection; endurance is 90 minutes and
mission radius is 10 km. The aircraft is equipped with
what the manufacturer describes as an exceptionally
quiet electric motor. Takeoff weight is 4 kg by day or 4.5
kg at night with a respective payload of colour CCD
camera or FLIR camera to provide continuous real-time
imagery. A single field soldier can launch the UAV after a
brief training session, Elbit adds: takeoff and landing are
automatic, as is deep stall recovery, and command and
control is provided through a portable ground station
based on a ruggedised laptop computer. Seagull is
another mini-UAV with a similar payload, but designed
to be launched from manned or unmanned airborne
platforms or by hand or rail from the surface.
February also saw successful flight tests of another mini
UAV named Skylark, though developer Rafael Armament
Development Authority changed the name subsequently
to Skylite and exhibited it under this name in February
2005 at the Aero India exhibition in Bangalore, India.
Designed for loitering surveillance missions lasting at
least one hour, Skylite weighs 6.5 kg and is shoulderlaunched from a canister 12 cm in diameter. Then its 1,7
m-wide wings snap open into flight position and an
electric motor powers it on missions which can exceed
60 minutes in duration over ranges of up to 10 km. Two
crewmembers can carry and operate two of the air
vehicles, which require no setting up before launch.
Israel Aircraft Industries’ Malat division (IAI-Malat) has
produced a stable of tactical UAVs, including the
Searcher I and II, Heron and Hunter, whose pedigree of
operational experience and flexible sensor fit make them
candidates for many current UAV requirements that go
beyond the traditional surveillance/reconnaissance roles.
Heron II, for instance, has been used in proof-of-concept
studies for a weapon-launching system in the antiballistic missile Boost Phase Launcher Initiative. In August
2003 IAI won an IDF contract to operate the Searcher on
intelligence flights over Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
In November 2004 the Belgium Aerial Defence Division’s
Squadron no. 80 deployed its B-Hunter to the Solenzara
Seagull - Elbit Systems, Israel
Air Base in Corsica for the first time. In the same month,
Northrop Grumman, who manufacture and assemble
the RQ-5A Hunter in the US, announced that two US
Army Hunters had been used to detect illegal traffic over
the US-Mexican border from October 2004 to January
2005. The flights were part of the same tests that the
Hermes 450 took part in for the US Department of
Homeland Security.
Heron is also the system basis for the Eagle 1 MALE
UAV, for which IAI has teamed with EADS Defence &
Security Systems. Eagle 1 is scheduled to make its first
flight in the second half of 2005. The Heron on which
it draws, meanwhile, achieved distinction in February
2004 at Asian Aerospace in Singapore, by giving the
first scheduled demonstration flight during a major
international air show. A larger, faster, turbo-prop
version, the Heron TP, powered by a turbo-prop engine
in the 1,000 hp class, is in full scale development
according to IAI’s Director of Flight Sciences Schlomo
Tsach. At 13 m long with a wingspan of 26 m Heron TP
will have a max altitude of 42,000 ft and be able to
carry more than 600 kg of payload at speeds of up to
240 kt.
IAI MBT Division’s Harpy container-launched expendable
lethal UAV - sold in quantity to Turkey, as well as India,
China and South Korea and the IDF for suppression of
enemy air defence (SEAD) applications - was part of
Raytheon’s proposed Combat UAV Target Locate and
Strike System (CUTLASS). The company is also in
discussion with EADS on a proposal to jointly develop
Eagle 2, an extended-range MALE UAV.
IAI has been active, too, in development of miniature
UAVs. In March 2004, at a conference on low intensity
conflict in Tel Aviv, the company revealed the Bird Eye
100 (formerly Birdy) and Bird Eye 500 (formerly Spy
There) mini-drones, the former capable of being carried
and launched by a single soldier, who then controls the
UAV through a laptop computer. Weighing 1.3 kg at
launch, powered by an electric motor and with an
endurance of about one hour, the aircraft can transmit
video imagery over distances of up to about 5 km. It is
intended to equip small military units, including
armoured vehicle formations.
121
UAV PROGRAMME OVERVIEWS: ISRAEL
Hermes 180 - Elbit Systems, Israel
Heron - IAI-Malat, Israel
The Spy There system, comprising three air vehicles and
a ground control station, can be carried and operated by
two soldiers; assembly takes no more than a few minutes
and training requirements are minimal. The air vehicle
has a take-off weight of 5 kg and a wingspan of 2 m.
Electrically powered for a low acoustic signature, it has
an endurance of better than one hour and an
operational radius of around 10 km. The vehicle is
programmed by clicking waypoints on a digital map
displayed on the screen of the mission laptop computer.
The Amsterdam police force was given a demonstration
of Bird Eye 500’s capabilities in June 2004 supervised by
Condor UAV B.V.
Mosquito 1, which flew for the first time in January
2003, has completed several flights lasting up to 40 min
carrying a miniature video camera. Mosquito 1.5, which
was said to be a few weeks away from its first flight,
weighs less than 500g. It has enhanced avionics for fully
autonomous flight, IAI said, and has an endurance of
around one hour with an enhanced video camera.
Previously, IAI had shown its I-See enhanced mini-UAV
and I-View tactical system at defence and aerospace
exhibitions. Weighing 7.5 kg at takeoff and carrying a
0.8 kg payload, I-See is designed for short-range
reconnaissance, surveillance and damage assessment
missions. The catapult-launched I-View is intended for
close-range surveillance, target acquisition and artillery
adjustment missions. It weighs 125-165 kg with a 20-30
kg payload and has an endurance of up to six hours at
ranges of up to 80 km.
Aeronautics Defence Systems (ADS) is another company
which provides UAV flight services to the IDF. The
company’s Aerolight, Aerosky and Aerostar UAVs have
also been evaluated and/or tested by the US Navy for
several requirements. General Dynamics, in an effort to
enter the tactical UAV market announced in March 2004
that its Ordnance and Tactical Systems business unit had
entered into a strategic alliance with ADS to market the
UAV systems - especially Aerostar - to US and global
users. In August of the same year General Dynamics
announced that the Sentel Corporation had awarded it a
contract to supply the Aerostar under licence from ADS
122
Hunter - IAI-Malat, Israel
to provide UAV training support to the US Naval Strike
and Air Warfare Center at Fallon, Nevada. Also of
interest to GD is ADS’ Unmanned Multi-Application
System (UMAS), an on-board operating system that
provides flight control, engine control and payload
management functionality as well as enabling
integration of multiple users.
As well as operating several Aerosky vehicles on behalf
of the IDF, ADS is currently using its short-range Aerostar
UAV to provide protection and patrol services for
Chevron Texaco’s operations in Angola under a two-year
contract awarded last year and reportedly worth US$ 4
million. The Aerostar carries a payload of up 50 kg and
has an endurance of 14 hours. According to the
manufacturer, it logged more than 10,000 flight hours
after being selected in 2002 to carry out routine security
missions for the Israel Defence Force.
E.M.I.T. has developed a range of its own UAVs. The Blue
Horizon 2, exhibited at the Aero India exhibition in
February 2005, has a wingspan of 6.5 m and can
accommodate a payload weighing up to 37 kg plus 75
litres of fuel within its maximum takeoff weight of 180
kg, for an endurance of 10 hours at 70 kt and 5.000 ft.
Power of 1.800 W is available for payload use.
E.M.I.T.’s parafoil-based Butterfly, with a Rotax 582 twostroke engine, flies relatively slowly at 30 kt, but has an
endurance of more than four hours and can carry a
payload of up to 230 kg. Set-up time is 20 min once the
system is removed from its shipping containers, and
operating range is at least 20 km with an omnidirectional antenna and six times that with a directional
antenna for the two command data uplinks and realtime data and video downlink. Crew consists of a ground
station operator plus a launcher and recovery system
operator.
A more recent start-up, Innocon, was founded in 2001
to develop, produce and market UAV-related products,
particularly the airborne avionics and ground control
station. The company has tested and qualified its
Miniature Integrated Avionics Suite (MIAS), which it
claims to be the most advanced and sophisticated UAV
UAV PROGRAMME OVERVIEWS: ISRAEL
Heron TP - IAI-Malat, Israel
control system on the market, and says it has entered
initial test phases of its Mini Falcon high-performance
tactical UAV airframe, which is controlled by the MIAS
avionics and boasts automatic launch and recovery
capabilities. Mini Falcon’s weight is quoted at 90 kg (45
BirdEye 500 - IAI-Malat, Israel
kg empty) with a 16 kg payload and has a projected
endurance of up to eight hours. A larger version, the
Mini Falcon II is now in development incorporating a DH
290 heavy fuel engine delivering longer endurance and a
heavier payload.
Hunter - IAI-Malat, Israel
I-View - IAI-Malat, Israel
Searcher I - IAI-Malat, Israel
Hermes 180 - Elbit Systems, Israel
I-See - IAI-Malat, Israel
Aerostar - Aeronautics Defence Systems, Israel
123