ADDS ASW CAPABILITY TO THE MARITIME HERON

摘要

Addressing the increasing role of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in maritime operations, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has added new capabilities to the Heron family of UAS, preparing the drone to assume anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. The newly-developed antisubmarine warfare capability now includes two new payloads - a Sonobuoy dispensing system for submarine detection and a Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) The combination of the two sensors enable simultaneous detection and tracking of submarines in shallow and deep waters. The use of UAV-mounted ASW capabilities offers significant advantages over conventional, manned aircraft, including longer mission time (dozens of hours on air), persistent monitoring of sonobuoys, and centralized operation of surveillance over very large areas.