CORRECTED: Uvision Is NOT Teamed With Raytheon And Has Not Been For Some Time. We Regret The Error. ADDS Source Info
TEL AVIV: The US Army, Special Forces, and Marines are looking intensely at Israeli-made loitering munitions after seeing the devastating impact of similar “kamikaze drones” in Azerbaijan’s defeat of Armenia. In particular, they’re evaluating Uvision’s line of Hero drones – which range from manportable systems to helicopter-launched weapons – for a host of roles.
Uvision is teamed with Raytheon to market and, if need be, modify the Hero series for the US market. UVision Air Ltd. is currently engaged with several US programs through its subsidiary UVision USA. The company declined to comment on any of the customers, tests or programs.
ADDED SOURCE An Israeli defense source confirmed that the US Army tested the man-portable Uvision Hero-30, which Special Forces have been assessing for several years. In its basic form, it weighs three kilograms (6.6 pounds), packs an 0.5 kg (1.1 lb) warhead, and can fly for 30 minutes – but Uvision and Raytheon are offering a lighter version with less explosive for the US. That version of Hero-30, ADDED SOURCE the sources here told Breaking D, is a contender for the Army’s Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS), with the winner to receive a contract for 25,000 of the explosive mini-drones over 15 years; an award is expected in months.
That same month, ADDED SOURCE our sources say, the Army also tested the Hero-120, which weighs 12.5 kg (28 lbs) and can fly for a full hour. It can carry a range of warheads, from 1.5 to 4.5 kg (3-10 lbs), including air-burst fragmentation for anti-personnel effect; point detonation for targets such as vehicles or infrastructure, a proximity mode for windows and doors; and a High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) option to kill heavy tanks. (The top weight of the warhead has been corrected to 4kg)
The Hero-120 is also competing for a Marine Corps program to replace 120mm mortars with loitering drones, ADDED SOURCE the Israeli defense sources said.
In May, ADDED SOURCE the sources said the Army will test the upgraded Hero-400EC, which can fly for two to four hours and reportedly could arm the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. This is a relatively heavy system – 40 kgs (88 lbs), with up to a 10-kg (22 lb) warhead) – designed for combat vehicles and naval vessels. It features a mid-air abort capability in which the user can stop a strike and either return the munition to loitering mode, switch to another target, or return to base for recovery via parachute.
Click below to watch our interview with Uvision on Hero from the 2019 AUSA conference:
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