LONDON — Israeli defense corporations made drone technology with a vertical-takeoff-and-landing capability a spotlight at this yr’s DSEI defense conference in London, unveiling two recent systems with customers already secured.
This past yr, the tube-launched Hero series of loitering munitions produced by German company Rheinmetall and its Israeli-based partner Uvision have seen great success in Europe, with sales announced to Italy and Hungary.
But this deployment method involves a logistical challenge for operators.
“The challenge of tube-launched loitering munitions in urban warfare environments is that you usually need a certain quantity of open space in front of you and a transparent path with no personnel in between,” Alon Tamir, senior business development and marketing manager at Israel Aerospace Industries told Defense News last week at DSEI. “It makes where you may launch more complex.”
To unravel this issue and supply customers with greater flexibility for launch sites, IAI developed the Rotem Alpha loitering munition, able to hovering, taking off and landing vertically. Unveiled at DSEI, the system is supplied with a demonstrated anti-tank warhead and was designed based on lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine, in response to the corporate representative.
“Much of the world never thought we’d widely see tanks fighting in Europe, yet here we’re,” Tamir said. “We knew we needed to develop a loitering munition with an anti-tank capability to reply to the demand for patrons seeking to destroy any sort of military vehicle.”
The Rotem Alpha has a variety of about 40 kilometers (25 miles) and may carry as much as 8 kilograms (18 kilos) of payload. It has secured a launch customer — a NATO country — although the corporate wouldn’t say which one.
One other Israeli company to have launched a brand new system on the London-based conference is Elbit Systems with the reveal of its Skylark 1 eVTOL drone. It’s the most recent model of the Skylark family of unmanned aerial systems, which the Israel Defense Forces have operated since 2008.
The corporate signed a contract to supply the Skylark 1 eVTOL to the IDF’s Artillery Corps. Training operators to make use of the drone takes on average a number of weeks, in response to an organization official.
Ziv Avni, vp of selling and business development at Elbit, highlighted the benefits of VTOL platforms, which he known as a transparent market trend.
“This capability allows for greater ease of operation where the drone can land or be launched from anywhere, because it is runway-independent and landing is generally more precise, which makes it less likely critical payloads or infrastructure are damaged,” Avni said. “Its ability to hover in place also makes them ideal for operations requiring precise control and stability, comparable to surveillance.”
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a big selection of topics related to military procurement and international security, and makes a speciality of reporting on the aviation sector. She is predicated in Milan, Italy.