Elbit Hermes 900 UAV photo:Elbit Switzerland has chosen Israeli Elbit System's Hermes 900 HFE unarmed reconnaissance drone syste...
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| Elbit Hermes 900 UAV photo:Elbit |
Switzerland has chosen Israeli Elbit System's Hermes 900 HFE unarmed reconnaissance drone system to replace its ADS 95 RUAG Ranger UAV by 2020.
The Hermes (ADS 15) was favoured over the Super Heron UAV built by Israel Aerospace Industries as its performed well during evaluations conducted in 2012.
The selection was announced on June 5 by Swiss defense procurement agency Armasuisse.
The deal is estimated to cost around 250 million swiss francs ($279 million), and will be submitted for approval to Swiss Parliament with the 2015 armaments program.
The all weather Hermes 900 HFE is an advanced new generation tactical UAV capable of flying multi payload, long endurance missions.
Hermes 900 is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV capable of performing persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), ground support and maritime patrol missions.
With a take-off weight of 1,180 kg, Hermes can fly up to 36 hours at a service ceiling of 30,000 ft. It has a payload capacity of 350 kgs against the 40 kg capacity of Ranger. It is powered by a Rotax 914, 115HP engine, enabling to fly at a maximum speed of 220 km/h.
Currently Swiss Air Force is operating 15 of the 28 Rangers procured since 2001. Developed from the IAI Scout UAV, Ranger has a max. take-off mass of 275 kg with endurance up to 4 hours. The 2 cylinder, 2-stroke, 45 PS engine allows it to fly in 90 - 220 km/h speed.
