Elbit Integrates Mini-Drone Onboard Autonomous Boat

Elbit Systems has completed tests of Seagull Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) after equipping the boat with a mini-drone, last week.

“Trials conducted in recent weeks were dedicated to the integration of a mini-Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), onboard the Seagull USV, further enhancing its intelligence gathering capabilities,” the company said in a release July 9.

The shipborne mini-UAS is capable of point water recovery and a takeoff weight of up to 15kg. The visual feed generated by the mini-UAS can be transmitted to the land based control unit of the Seagull USV and to the Combat Management System (CMS) of additional vessels.

While the Seagull USV is a specially designed multi-role vessel for underwater warfare, the USV’s switchable payload suite includes Electronic Warfare and Electro-Optic/Infra-Red payloads to provide situational awareness and facilitate intelligence gathering. The integration of a tactical UAS onboard the USV further expands its capacity to generate intelligence enabling to utilize the USV for enhancing the situational awareness of any maritime force and for shore exploration.

Seagull Unmanned Surface Vessel

The Seagull USV is an autonomous multi-mission USV featuring switchable, modular mission payload suites capable of performing ASW, MCM, EW, Maritime Security (MS), Hydrography and other missions using the same vessel, the mission control system and the same data links. The Seagull USV enable naval forces to enhance performance while reducing risk to human life and dramatically cutting procurement and operating costs.

Elbit Systems added additional sonar systems onboard the Seagull USV during the last year, integrating a HELRAS sonar in-cooperation with the Israeli Navy and concluding a series of trials for the TRAPS-USV towed sonar.