IAI Develops sUAS with Sierra Nevada

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop a small tactical unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) and market it in the U.S., where the two companies see a growth market for systems that answer the needs of naval and rapidly moving land forces.

In the small UAS marketplace, there are growing requirements for vehicles that can launch and reposition with rapidity, yet have a minimum footprint. IAI has been working on a vertical takeoff tiltrotor UAS known as Panther for several years that requires no runway, but which can translate to wingborne flight to provide the benefits of a fixed-wing vehicle, such as payload capability, endurance and the speed with which it can fly to its operational area.

Panther weighs around 65 kg (143 pounds), but the new UAS will be larger and have dual-sensor capability, although details of its specification remain under wraps. It is expected to make first flight within 12 to 18 months, IAI having solved the technological hurdles of a challenging concept.

SNC will be the prime contractor for the new vehicle, which will be built entirely in the U.S., and will also manage both direct sales and any government- or contractor-owned/contractor-operated service provision contracts. These GO/CO and CO/CO services are an increasingly popular means of providing this kind of capability.

In the meantime, IAI has developed an anti-submarine warfare capability for its Heron family of MALE remotely-piloted aircraft. Spurred by the need to replace capability lost with the retirement of the Israeli navy’s IAI 1124 Sea Scan (Shahaf) maritime patrol aircraft and increased employment of the Heron for maritime patrol duties, IAI has devised a lightweight active sonar buoy and a magnetic anomaly detector. The latter detects large metal objects underwater. Several sonobuoys can be carried by each Heron, relaying their data back to a shore station. The capability has attracted interest from some of IAI's international Heron customers.