Hermes 900 Starliner Drones :
India is set to acquire additional Israeli-made Hermes Starliner 900 drones that will enhance the Indian Army’s surveillance capabilities along its northern borders.
- Hermes 900 Starliner is an Israeli-made medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
- It is the larger variant of the Hermes 900.
- It has a wingspan of 17m and a maximum take-off weight of 1,600kg.
- The aircraft has a service ceiling of 30,000ft and offers a flight endurance of up to 36 hours.
- The aircraft’s automatic take-off and landing (ATOL) capability allows it to take-off and land in near-zero visibility environments.
- An active de-icing system is installed for removing ice from surfaces to ensure safe operation in icing conditions.
- It can carry a range of multi-sensor payloads weighing up to 450kg for multiple applications.
- The onboard imaging sensors capture real-time imagery/video and provide wide-area persistent surveillance during both the day and night.
- It is equipped with a terrain avoidance warning system (TAWS) for terrain prediction and obstacle avoidance.
- It is equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a ground moving target indicator (GMTI) radar, and maritime patrol radar to detect, locate and acquire targets.
- It can also carry electronic warfare payloads to provide airborne electronic attack capability.
