Marines first operational flight of MQ-9A Reaper in Middle East

On March 20, U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) pilots and sensor operators from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 (VMU-1) conducted their first operational flight of an MQ-9A Reaper Unmanned Aircraft System in the Middle East. The multi-sensor reconnaissance-equipped MQ-9A produced by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has provided crucial support to USMC's forward operations on the battlefield.

With the oversight of the GA-ASI team, the VMU-1 "Watchdog" crews took control of a Company Owned/Company Operated MQ-9A supporting forward deployed Marines.

VMU-1 leases MQ-9A Reaper aircraft to fulfill its urgent needs request for persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in Afghanistan.

Elbit Systems upgrades Hermes 900 unmanned aircraft for Latin America

Elbit Systems Ltd. announced Monday 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.

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 UAS to the latest configuration, enabling extension of  the operational range to more than 1,000 kilometers 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, homeland security and maritime search and rescue.