Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) will unveil its new tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for tactical missions. Called the "Panther", the UAV will be unveiled tomorrow at the Latrun 2010 Conference organized by the Institute for Land Warfare Studies.
IAI said that The Panther will also be exhibited for the first time internationally at the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA) 2010 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington D.C., October 25-27.
IAI's new line of UAVs also includes also the "Mini Panther".
The "Panther" is based on R&D and IAI's operational knowledge of the challenges of an advanced ground battlefield. The new UAV combines the flight capabilities of an airplane with helicopter-like hovering, a tilt-rotor propeller, and a fixed wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) system, which enable a runway-free takeoff and landing on an unprepared area.
The concept has been patented by IAI.
Transitions between the hovering takeoff phase to forward flight and vice versa before landing are controlled by an innovative automatic flight control system. The "Panther" takes off and lands automatically by a simple click of the operator console, thus eliminating the need for an external pilot.
IAI president and CEO Itzhak Nissan said, "The Panther's intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, along with its effective use of changing flight dynamics, make it a unique and invaluable asset on the tactical battlefield for the Israel Defense Forces and for foreign customers. We consider the innovative technology used in this system to be ground-breaking."
With three ultra-quiet electrical motors, the "Panther", which weighs about 65 kilograms, can loiter for six hours, at an altitude of up to 10,000 feet, with a radius of operation of over 60 kilometers. The new UAV carries IAI's Mini-POP (Plug-in Optronic Payload) - a day/night stabilized camera with a laser range finder, pointer or laser designator.
The "Mini Panther", which weighs up to 12 kilograms, can loiter for about two hours, and carries IAI's Micro-POP.
The "Panther" control station, transported on a midsize vehicle, can store up to three aircraft, as well as the ground data link, the support equipment and spare parts, all of which allow the troops' autonomous operation on the field at a tactical level.
Two operators control the mission using two fully redundant identical consoles. The portable "Mini Panther" system includes two planes and a command and control unit, and is carried in backpacks by two soldiers.
Both platforms, designed to be entirely automatic, can be controlled by one operator, while the command and control station has two operators to control the station and oversee the mission.
Prototypes of the Panther platform have conducted successful flight tests and will be operational by 2011.