Article Posted on : - Jun 10, 2014

Hermes 900. Photo: Elbit Systems

HAIFA, ISRAEL (BNS): The Swiss Federal Department of Defence has selected Israeli Elbit Systems as supplier for the UAS 15 new reconnaissance drone programme.

The Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) said the ADS 95 Ranger reconnaissance drone system, which the Swiss Armed Forces have been operating since 2001, will be replaced by 2020.

Under the 2015 arms procurement programme, efforts are in progress to replace the current UAV system, which is reaching the end of its life cycle.

The model that has been chosen is the "Hermes 900 HFE", manufactured by the Israeli Elbit Systems company. It is an unarmed reconnaissance drone system, which has been preferred to its competitor "Super Heron" built by Israel Aerospace Industries.

The Hermes 900 HFE has been favoured because it delivered the better overall result in all assessed criteria. In the pre-evaluation, these two UAV systems were the best in meeting the requirements, DDPS said in a statement.

The Hermes 900 HFE system is an all-weather unarmed reconnaissance drone system that is more flexible, has longer endurance in the air and a wider operational range than the system currently in use.