Paris Le Bourget, 19 June 2013: The Israel navy will evaluate the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Panther tilt rotor unmanned air system (UAS) for operation on board some of its ships. According to Israeli sources at the Paris Air show, the evaluation will focus on “achieving the full effectiveness while operating from a ship.” I-HLS reports.
The Panther uses an innovative automatic flight control system that controls the transitions between the hovering takeoff phase to forward flight and vice versa before landing.
The Panther takes off and lands automatically by a simple click of the operator console, thus eliminating the need for an external pilot. According to IAI the Panther is powered by 3 ultra-quiet electrical motors. The Panther has a takeoff weight of 65 kg and an endurance of 6 hours.
The Israeli navy is currently using helicopters on its SAAR-5 missile ships. The Israeli sources said that the Panther and other UAS under development will eliminate the future use of helicopters on the navy’s ships.
