Elbit Hermes 450

The Elbit Hermes 450 is an unmanned reconnaissance drone of the Israeli manufacturer Elbit.

History

The first demonstrator of the drone flew the mid-1990s as a single-engined 450s version. In July 1997, the Israeli army bought the system, which has been in operation since 2000. The twin-engined Hermes 450 has been flying since about 2000 and has been tested by the Defense Department of the United States at the U.S. Armed Forces Joint UAV test and evaluation programs in mid-2003.

From the Watchkeeper drone drone 450 with optical sensors, one operating in the Ku-band radar and an automatic takeoff and landing system was equipped from 2004 for the British Army.

As of January 2007, the drone is also in the Army of Singapore in service. For Croatia, the Cypriot National Guard and for Mexico the aircraft are in use.

In the Caucasus conflict in 2008, occurred in March and April 2008 to tensions and on April 20, a Georgian unmanned aircraft ( " drone " ) was shot down over Abkhaz territory, which proved to be a Georgian Hermes 450. Overall, three of the drones were shot down by Russian fighter planes.

The development Elbit Hermes 900 to about 300 kg payload and increased up to 9000 m altitude is since December 2009 in the flight test.

Specifications

It is powered by a rotary engine drone UAV Engines R802 with 38 kW of power, which drives a two-bladed pusher propeller. As a payload 150 kg or 300 l are given, with the payload of 1.6 kW of electrical power is available.

Data provided by Elbit Hermes 450: