Israeli company Elbit Systems announced on April 12, 2020, that it was awarded two contracts valued at a total of approximately $20 million from Latin American customers to upgrade the capabilities of their Hermes 900 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Both contracts will be performed within a 12-month period.

Hermes 900 showcased at Paris Air Show 2013 (Picture source Army Recognition)

Under the contracts, the Company will integrate satellite communication systems and automatic takeoff and landing systems into the Hermes 900 UAS that the customers are already operating. This upgrade will advance these Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS to the latest configuration, enabling extension of the operational range to more than 1000km and performing the takeoff and landing autonomously and independent of GPS reception.

Since its debut 10 years ago, the Hermes 900 UAS was selected by numerous customers across four continents, performing a wide range of missions in the fields of Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR), homeland security and maritime search and rescue.

The Hermes 900 is an Israeli-made medium-size, multi-payload, medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed and manufactured by the company Elbit Systems.

The Hermes 900 has an endurance of over 30 hours and can fly at a maximum altitude of 9,100 m, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay. The Hermes 900 has a wingspan of 15 m and weighs 970 kg, with a payload of 300 kg. Payload options include electro-optical/infrared sensors, synthetic-aperture radar/ground-moving target indication, communications and electronic intelligence, electronic warfare, and hyperspectral sensors.