Originally Posted by
PANews
The Elbit is clearly going to be cheaper in terms of a DOC.... it only has one engine. But one engine is deemed not to be enough when operating over people in a town or city.
What the Elbit (Watchkeeper) also does not have is 'sense and avoid'.... just how long have we been promised that and waited for it? BAE used to have the Jetstream they were trialling sense and avoid in.... when did they announce complete success? They did not.
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The NPAS role is not to fly over water. Current activity flying drones and fixed wing (including Watchkeeper) in support of the MCA effort to halt migrant boat arrivals is a necessary step in the development of drones over cities but do not get to thinking this is going to happen before 2030. At the moment the powers that be cannot even get the Emergency Services Network (ESN) a 'simple' radio system to work on time let alone stuff that flies!
We are not talking about Watchkeeper (nee Elbit Hermes 450) this again is a differant UAS, that requires considerably more ground support than Hermes 900. You can look at Hermes 900 as son of Hermes 450/Watchkeeper - it does may things that its father cannot, requiring minimal ground equipment including not requiring arrestor cables, Hermes 900 has brakes and can be taxied similar to a manned aircraft.