Israeli loitering munition (LM) specialist UVision unveiled an autonomous multi-launch system for its Hero-120 LM at the 2024 Association of the US Army (AUSA) exhibition, held in Washington, DC, from 14 to 16 October.
The new system is capable of launching and managing multiple Hero-120 munitions simultaneously and is coupled with an advanced mission planning capability provided by Israeli company Omnisys.
“The newly introduced system offers unprecedented operational flexibility to armed forces, allowing for autonomous mission management from target engagement to neutralisation,” UVision stated in a 9 October press release. “It integrates seamlessly with various intelligence-gathering platforms, including tactical [unmanned aerial systems] and command-and-control systems. The system’s real-time, AI-driven automatic target recognition and mission management capabilities ensure rapid and accurate responses to both pre-identified and time-sensitive targets. Operators can deploy multiple loitering munitions per operator, with the system continuously processing intelligence from multiple sources.”
Designed for saturated area dominance, the system can launch munitions in waves, overwhelming enemy defences and providing operators with full mission control and the ability to abort missions mid-flight if necessary.
“Our new holistic battlefield solution revolutionises mission planning and execution,” stated Dr Ran Gozali, board chairman of UVision USA and CEO of UVision Air. “With the ability to manage multiple loitering munitions and autonomously decide the engagement of multiple targets, operators can concentrate on strategic decisions, enhanced lethality and firepower efficiency while operating from a stand-off position.”
Describing the system to ESD at AUSA 2024 on 16 October, Itzik Huber, UVision’s vice president for the North American market, stated, “You’ve got 21 missiles here, with a second batch of another10 missiles, so you can have a significant firepower behind you on a 20-foot [6 m] container, which is easy to put on a truck and go wherever you want, or you can put it on a ship.”
Huber additionally mentioned that UVision has received a US demonstration contract to show how its Hero-120 LM can be launched from a Black Hawk helicopter.
“In 11 months from now we’re gonna shoot two Hero-120s from a Black Hawk, here in the US, and that opens a full scope of capabilities, to the helicopter itself but also to the co-operation between helicopters and ground forces with a hand-off capability,” he said.
Because Hero-120s have a pneumatic launch system there is no issue with positioning them around other munitions carried on a helicopter’s weapon pods.
In terms of the Hero-120s’ launch envelope, Huber said, “Right now we want the helicopter to be between 20 to 60 knots [37 to 111 km/h] as a good position to launch and, of course, not be very near to the ground; it should be at around 100 ft [30 m]. But … together with that contract, we’re going to open the envelope for better speed or higher speed and different altitudes, low altitudes and even higher altitudes for helicopters. But the range of speed and altitude is of helicopter is very similar to the range of speed and altitude that our loitering munitions can fly, so we feel very confident with opening the envelope.”
Meanwhile, UVision has been ramping up its production capabilities in the United States, where the company is contracted to provide its Hero-120 LMs to US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), while also having supplied a small number to the US Army, which current has a competition to establish a programme of record for such a weapon. The Hero-120 now has a full production line and supply chain in the United States and is produced with SAIC as a subcontractor out of SAIC facilities in Charleston, South Carolina, and Uvision’s facilities in Stafford, Virginia.
UVision has also been contracted by the US government to ‘Americanise’ its larger Hero-400 LM, under which the weapon will have its avionics and warhead enhanced among other capability improvements.
