Elbit & GD Create, Dissolve UAS Dynamics LLC for US Market

The UAV market’s low cost of entry is spurring manufacturers around the world to enter, or re-enter, the military aircraft market as prime contractors. That’s also true in the USA, where former aviation powerhouses Northrop and Grumman have a stable of high-end UAVs; and Raytheon unveiled the Killer Bee 4, which will become a full-spectrum UAV family. Even former fighter manufacturer General Dynamics stepped back in for a while, via a May 2009 partnership between Elbit Systems of America, LLC and General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products… The UAVs Skylark-I LE(click to view full) The popular Skylark family includes the hand-launched Skylark I mini-UAV, and the larger, catapult-launched Skylark II. So far, it has been difficult to gain traction against Aerovironment’s popular RQ-11B Raven and Puma AE hand-helds, though Lockheed Martin’s Desert Hawk III has apparently made some inroads. The Hermes 90 was reportedly a focus of the partnership, but it eventually lost to Boeing Insitu’s Integrator UAV in the Marines’ STUAS II compatition. Hermes 180 tactical UAV is the low end of Elbit’s runway-launched offerings, though catapult-launch capability has been demonstrated up to the Hermes 450. The larger, widely-exported Hermes 450 is Elbit’s most significant UAS. It serves as […]