Elbit Rolls-out Unmanned Aircraft Capable of Operating in Civilian Airspace

12 July, 2018

Hermes 900 StarLiner has been performing Civil Aviation Authority certified flights in Masada National Park, Israel

Elbit Systems from Haifa, Israel, launched this week the new Hermes 900 StarLiner, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) that can be integrated into civilian airspace and fly in the same environment with manned aircraft. Concluding an extensive year-long flying schedule, the Hermes 900 StarLiner has been performing Civil Aviation Authority certified flights in Masada National Park, Israel.

A series of the Hermes 900 StarLiner (known as Hermes 900 HFE in the Swiss program) is currently being assembled for the Swiss Armed Forces and is scheduled to be delivered and integrated into Switzerland NAS during 2019. Drawing on the legacy of the widely operational Hermes 900 and Hermes 450 and their proven technologies, Elbit Systems has conducted an extensive multi-year R&D effort focusing on producing a mature UAS that complies with civilian airspace regulations and can be safely integrated into European NAS (National Airspace System).

Elbit sees  a growing demand for advanced yet mature UAS that can be safely integrated into civilian airspace and provide complex homeland and border security missions. Meeting the strict safety and certification requirements required all the components of Hermes 900 StarLiner to be designed in full compliance with STANAG 4671 standard. This is the NATO Standard designed to allow military Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to operate in other NATO members airspace.

The building of the new model involved the using of advanced aviation technologies not common in the Military. Amog them: cooperative and non-cooperative Detect & Avoid Systems, Train Avoidance Warning System, Automatic Take-off and Landing in near zero visibility, redundant broad bandwidth line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) data link and adverse weather capabilities such as de-icing and direct lightning strike sustainment.

These technological enhancements allow the aircraft to operate in both visual and instrument meteorological conditions, and its powerful heavy fuel engine provides improved climb rate, extended endurance and higher ceiling and maximum speed.

Share via Whatsapp

Posted in: Aerospace & Defense , News