Jane Edwards
Avi Mizrachi, CEO of Israel-based defense company UVision, said the U.S. armed forces will test the company’s two loitering weapon systems – Hero-30 and Hero-400 – in October at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.
The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and representatives from Special Operations Command are expected to participate in the planned weapons demonstrations.
Hero-30 features a lock-on and tracking capability, video stream functionality and can operate at an altitude of up to 2,000 feet for 30 minutes. It can be aborted at the last second and can be relaunched for another attempt of attack. UVision is offering to the U.S. military a lighter version of the munition and plans to extend the weapon’s endurance.
Hero-400 is a larger aerial loitering weapon that has an endurance of 2 hours, can be retrieved if necessary and comes with a multipurpose warhead that can be used for concrete piercing, anti-personnel and anti-tank operations.
“Some of our systems are combat proven. I cannot be specific but the operational results will be presented to the Americans,” Mizrachi told the publication.
UVision received a contract from the Marine Corps to supply its Hero-120 weapon system for integration with the service’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, long-range unmanned surface vessel and Light Armored Vehicle-Mortar. The company also established a U.S.-based subsidiary as it anticipates more U.S. military contracts for its loitering munition systems.
