UAVs

Aeronautics Defense Systems has teamed with Textron company AAI to market the family of Orbiter unmanned air vehicles jointly in the US and other countries.

For the US market AAI will manufacture the Orbiter at its Hunt Valley, Michigan facilities. The agreement will allow the Israeli Defence Force to purchase Orbiters using funds normally earmarked for buying foreign military equipment, specifically US made systems.

The Orbiter-1 with its flying wing configuration has a wingspan of 2.2m (7.2ft), is 1m long and has an endurance of up to 3h. It's maximum take-off weight is 6kg (13.2lb) and its operational ceiling is 18,000ft (5,400m).

According to Aeronautics president Avi Leumi, the new Orbiter-3 product, which is still in development, will have a wing span of 3.6m, an endurance of up to 8h and carry a 3kg electro-optical payload as part of its larger volume fuselage.

The Orbiter-2 is already in test flights, it has a 3m wingspan and a 5h endurance. The Orbiters can be equipped with day or night payloads, according to the mission.