Elbit employs UAS innovation

HAIFA, Israel, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Israel's Elbit Systems says it has operated two different unmanned aircraft systems on joint missions from the same universal ground control station.

The aircraft involved were Elbit's Hermes 450 and Hermes 900, which gathered imagery, electronic and communications intelligence and transmitted it to station operators while using different communications systems.

Elbit said the joint flight control and management of two different UAS provides users with enhanced operational flexibility, adapting each specific UAS to a specific mission and enabling management of highly complex missions in diverse arenas.

Conducting joint flight operations from a common UGCS is cost effective as the two distinct UAS rely on shared software architecture and training programs.

"Capable of simultaneously controlling two parallel UAS missions, each mission managed by a single operator, the UGCS enables advanced mission performance, automatic taxiing, autonomous flight and automatic takeoff and landing systems common to all the UAS in the Hermes family," Elbit said.