IAI Expands Heron UAS Capabilities with EO Payload

By Mike Ball / 18 Jun 2015
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IAI Heron with M19 HDIsrael Aerospace Industries (IAI), a provider of defense and commercial aerospace products, has announced that it is enhancing its Heron TP UAV’s capabilities with long-range persistent surveillance options and area dominance capabilities. The company aims to achieve this by integrating the Heron with a high definition M-19HD EO payload, developed and produced by IAI’s Tamam Division.

The M-19HD is designed to withstand severe environmental conditions and to operate in demanding high-end applications on various platforms such as high/medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (HALE/MALE UAVs), fixed-wing aircraft, combat helicopters, aerostats, and maritime vessels. It has successfully completed flight tests onboard several platforms including the Heron 1 UAS, and is currently being offered to various customers.

The M-19HD is a High-Definition, multispectral, multi-sensor observation and targeting payload (which can simultaneously incorporate up to seven sensors). The M-19HD enables continuous day/night surveillance under all weather conditions and provides outstanding acquisition ranges due to its powerful sensors, high stabilization and unique image processing capabilities. The M-19HD reduces operator workload and improves situational awareness by virtue of its multimode automatic video tracker (AVT). It also provides accurate geo-location capabilities using an embedded IMU/GPS (Inertial Measurement Unit/Global Positioning System).

Avi Elisha, General Manager of IAI’s Tamam Division, said: “We are proud to integrate the M-19HD payload on IAI’s flagship UAS – the Heron TP. We strongly believe that its high performance and unique image processing features can confer significant advantages on supplying Heron TP customers in their operational activities.”

M-19HD characteristics:

• Dimensions: width: 22.6″ (576 mm), height: 27.3″ (694 mm)
• Weight: 75 – 85 kg (configuration-dependent)
•Options include: 2 HD Day Cameras (Zoom and Spotter), HD IR Zoom Camera, Laser Designator, Laser Range Finder, Laser Pointer, Laser Illuminator (in near infrared – NIR) and electron-multiplied charged-coupled-device (EMCCD) camera or short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera.

Posted by Mike Ball Mike Ball is our resident technical editor here at Unmanned Systems Technology. Combining his passion for teaching, advanced engineering and all things unmanned, Mike keeps a watchful eye over everything related to the unmanned technical sector. With over 10 years’ experience in the unmanned field and a degree in engineering, Mike’s been heading up our technical team here for the last 8 years. Connect & Contact