2Excel Aviation and IAIs Maritime Heron demonstrated
Summary
The system demonstrated that it is highly capable in missions including search and rescue, border protection, fisheries patrol, safety at sea, small boat detection and surveillance, along with other activities. Rule-based scenarios were also demonstrated via IAI’s Starlight data exploitation tool, which received inputs from the Heron UAS’ multi-mission radar, EO/IR sensor and AIS. The Heron UAS is a cutting-edge, world-class system, paired with IAIs supportive data-gathering and analysis technology, which provides the customer with tailored solutions. Says Andy Offer, Co-Founder and Director of 2Excel Aviation: “2Excel and IAI together demonstrated they can operate a very capable MALE (medium altitude long endurance) platform in the UK within the constraints of the current regulatory environment. The feedback from the UK Civil Aviation Authority was very positive and we feel confident about the roadmap for future unmanned operations across our suite of contract air services.”