Tel Aviv. The idea of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) carrier is now looking more realistic than before.
The aircraft carriers have proved their affectivity in many navies. The same happened with helicopter carriers. These floating air bases have a task in every major military conflict that erupts where nature put seas and oceans. In recent years navies have come up with an increasing number of operational demands to have UAS on their ships.
This is happening, and in recent years some Israeli manufacturers of UAV have begun to think of the idea.
Aeronautics, an Israeli unmanned aerial system (UAS) manufacturer, is offering the option to operate its Orbiter – 3 UAS from navy ships.
The Orbiter – 3 has a wingspan of 4.2 meters a max takeoff weight of 28kgs and an endurance of seven hours. It carries a 5.5 kg payload.
In ground operations it is launched with a catapult and recovered by a combination of parachute and airbag. On ships a special net is used to catch it at the end of the mission.
The adaptation of the Orbiter-3 for sea operations comes three years after its smaller version the Orbiter – 2 has been adapted for that mission and is already in operation on Israeli navy’s vessels.
According to Aeronautics, there is a growing demand for the operation of UAS from combat ships. This is in some navies the direct replacement of a deck operated helicopter. The aerial platform are needed mainly for early detection of threats.
So far the UAS that can operate from ships are the relatively small ones. They usually are launched with some type of catapult and land into a net.
But as the saying goes “Appetite comes with the eating,” the increased use of medium size and large size UAS and the amazing growth in their capabilities create an operational demand.
People in the industry envision a dedicated carrier with a deck that will enable large UAS like the Heron-1 to takeoff, probably with assisting systems and also will facilitate the use of unmanned rotorcraft.
So when UAVs in Israel accumulate more flight hours than that of manned aircraft, the idea of a UAV carrier seems more tangible.
Tal Inbar, an Israeli defence expert, told Raksha Anirveda that the idea of a UAV carrier makes a lot of sense but the implementation will be complicated.
-The writer is International Roving Correspondent of the publication
