Marines on the West Coast have been training to team Israeli-made suicide drones with helicopters and small boat crews to provide extra eyes in the sky and a potential maritime strike capability. A recent training event demonstrated that control of a Hero-400EC loitering munition could be handed off between land, air, and sea-based assets, providing significant operational flexibility in coastal environments where Marines expect to fight in future conflicts.
During the training exercise, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) launched a Hero-400EC from San Clemente Island off the coast of California. Land-based operators then passed control of the drone to crew members aboard a Bell UH-1Y Venom helicopter, which then gave control of the system to Marines aboard small unspecified watercraft, according to Maj. Mason Engelhart, a spokesman for 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Made by Israel-based UVision, which also has a U.S. subsidiary, the Hero-400EC is an electrically-powered precision loitering munition that
weighs just under 90 pounds. The “EC” stands for "electric, cruciform," for its propulsion type and four wings that give it a cross shape in flight.
With an integrated electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) seeker, remote sensors, and GPS antenna, it can locate, track, and strike both static and moving targets with
a 22-pound warhead. Deployed using a land-based catapult or a standardized canister launch system designed to be mounted on vehicles, the Hero-400EC can stay aloft for two hours and has
a range of about 25 miles with a line-of-sight datalink. UVision says the munition
can be configured for a range up to 93 miles. An operator uses a portable video game-style controller with an integrated screen that shows what the drone's EO/IR sensor sees, as well as navigational info, and can be used for targeting
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30-05-2015, 13:30
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