Aeronautics inks $10 million deal for Orbiter drones with S. American client

Deal will see the company provide maintenance and support services.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM
Aeronautics' Orbiter UAV (photo credit: AERONAUTICS)
Aeronautics' Orbiter UAV
(photo credit: AERONAUTICS)
Israeli defense company Aeronautics announced a deal to sell their advanced Orbiter 2 and Orbiter 3 drones to the government of a South American country in a deal worth $10 million on Tuesday.
The deal, which will also see Aeronautics provide maintenance and support services, is in addition to a previous $2 million deal signed with the customer in March.
The UAVs will be supplied during the first year of the agreement.
Close to 2,000 units of the Orbiter 2 and 3 have been built and have accumulated over 250,000 flight hours with 37 customers flying them.
The tactical Orbiter 3 UAV is a compact, light-weight system for use by military and homeland security officials. It has an operating range of up to 150 km and can stay up to seven hours in flight providing intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions.
It has both day and night vision channels and also carries a three-sensor electro-optical camera with significant tactical capabilities. The fully autonomous highly transportable system can be assembled within a few minutes and is launched using a catapult and lands with the help of a parachute and airbag.
It has been adapted to both ground and marine environments and can carry payloads up to 5 kg in weight, including multi-sensor stabilized EO payloads carrying laser target-designation systems and the company’s latest variant has a digital datalink for operators.
The smaller Orbiter 2 has an endurance of up to 4 hours up to a distance of up to 80 kilometers and has a payload capacity of 1.5 kg. It can serve a variety of military missions including intelligence gathering, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR).
It can also be used for low-intensity warfare, counter-insurgency and urban warfare as well as civilian missions like border protection and maritime surveillance.
Operated by two crew members the Orbiter 2, it is easy to operate and can be assembled within minutes. Like the Orbiter 3 it is  launched using a catapult and lands with the help of a parachute and airbag.
It carries a multi-sensor camera with day and night vision channels, and can be operated in all weather conditions.
"The Orbiter family is at the forefront of UAV technology in the world and continues to drive the company forward and win the praise and confidence of our customers. The Orbiter UAVs can carry out a wide range of missions and the benefits they provide to the ground and air forces in the various armies, both on the battlefield as well as policing missions and protecting borders, are decisive” said Amos Matan, CEO of Aeronautics.


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