Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Thales have conducted risk reduction flight tests for the integration of Thales and Elisra’s NATO STANAG 7085 data link on board the Heron Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance unmanned aerial
vehicle (MALE UAV).
Through a joint effort between IAI and Thales, Thales’s TMA6000 data link terminal was integrated with Elbit Systems’ Elisra Radio Frequency Modules and antennas, on board the Heron UAS system and successfully demonstrated in flight in Israel.
During the flight test, both infrared and daylight videos were transmitted in real time to the ground control station, and the sensors were controlled in real time from the ground.
Supporting data throughput capability up to 137 Mb/s the Ku-band TMA 6000 datalink complies with NATO STANdard Agreement (STANAG) 7085 – the waveform standard for real-time transmission of videos, images and other Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) data from on-board sensors to dedicated ISR stations. This compliance ensures NATO interoperability and guaranties radio frequency authorisation in full alignment with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regulation, as well as high resistance to jamming and interception.
The Heron is a MALE UAV developed by Israel Aerospace Industries is operated by more than 15 nations worldwide including several NATO members – Canada, France, Germany and Turkey.
Thales also offers its datalink on the WK450 Watchkeeper UAV it has delivered to the British Army.
