, BAE Systems has confirmed the successful completion of a new series of trials for its fully autonomous HERTI UAV (unmanned air vehicle) system.
In November and December 2006 the BAE Systems HERTI flight test and deployment team successfully completed fully autonomous flight trials at the Woomera range in southern Australia. This was followed by a period of data analysis in early January, now completed.
In addition to performance flight test missions for the UAV, the system successfully achieved a number of further key milestones with its autonomous ICE (Image Collection & Exploitation) mission system.
The ICE system successfully completed and undertook autonomous target searches and, as part of the on-going joint industry / RAF 'Project Morrigan', also demonstrated searches for operationally representative targets as set out by the RAF Air Warfare Centre UAV Battlelab.
Mark Kane, managing director of the BAE Systems Autonomous Systems & Future Capability business said: “These trials were conducted in high ambient temperatures, typical for this time of the year in Australia. The system exhibited a very high level of availability with no missions being lost to system serviceability. HERTI is continuing to prove a robust and reliable platform – not least because the level of systems autonomy it offers.”
The HERTI and its ICE system will be making its first non-UK public appearance at the AeroIndia exhibition in Bangalore in early February.
BAE Systems is the premier transatlantic defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With 88,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded 12 billion pounds (US22 billion dollars) in 2005, excluding the Group's former interest in Airbus.
