Elbit Systems has outlined a concept to convert commercial vessels into dedicated platforms for unmanned aviation, using ships carrying nine to 12 Hermes 650 Spark aircraft to provide naval forces with extended maritime reach.
The Israeli company presented the approach as an alternative to acquiring a conventional aircraft carrier. Each converted vessel would include the deck infrastructure, control systems and mission-support equipment needed to launch, recover and operate the unmanned aircraft, according to Elbit.
Remote launch and recovery
The concept centers on the Hermes 650 Spark, a front-engine unmanned aircraft that Elbit says has a wider speed envelope and greater power margin. Those characteristics are intended to support short takeoff and landing operations, heavier payloads and longer missions. The aircraft has two payload bays, satellite communications and diagnostic systems, the company said.
Elbit says the 650 Spark is compatible with the ground-control infrastructure used for its larger Hermes 900 drone. Under the proposed arrangement, the aircraft would be operated as part of a combined Hermes 650 and Hermes 900 force from a land-based control system, while the ships function as remote launch and recovery sites.
According to Elbit, that model could reduce both manpower demands and the number of control stations required compared with operating separate systems from each vessel.
Maritime surveillance role
Elbit cited Japan’s broad maritime geography, Denmark’s responsibilities around Greenland and Germany’s Baltic Sea security environment as examples of the large and distant areas the concept could address. The company’s proposal is aimed at missions in which persistent unmanned coverage could be useful without the cost and complexity associated with a traditional carrier.
For Israel, such a maritime UAS platform could support monitoring of offshore gas installations located dozens of kilometers from shore. Those facilities face conventional threats as well as drone and missile attacks from Iran and its proxies, and a converted vessel carrying multiple long-endurance aircraft could extend early-warning coverage, according to the source material.
Elbit did not provide an operational timeline or identify customers or governments interested in the concept. The announcement positions the company against Turkey’s Baykar and South Korea’s Hanwha in this segment, while offering the existing Hermes 650 in a new operational package for potential export customers.
