The new 65-kilogram UAV can stay in the air for up to six hours and fly at an altitude of 10,000 feet. It comes equipped with a specialized day and night camera with a laser range-finder on board.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN311_Panther UAV(photo credit: Courtesy of IAI)
Israel Aerospace Industries is set to unveil a new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during a conference in Latrun on Tuesday.The Panther UAV “combines the flight capabilities of an airplane with helicopter- like hovering, a tilt-rotor propeller, and a fixed-wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) system, which enable a runway-free takeoff and landing on an unprepared area,” IAI said in a press release on Monday.The Panther will go on display at the Association of the United States Army’s (AUSA) 2010 annual meeting and exposition in Washington, to be held October 25-27.Itzhak Nissan, president and CEO of IAI, said, “The Panther’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, along with its effective use of changing flight dynamics, make it a unique and invaluable asset on the tactical battlefield for the Israel Defense Forces and for foreign customers. We consider the innovative technology used in this system to be ground-breaking.”The new 65-kilogram UAV can stay in the air for up to six hours and fly at an altitude of 10,000 feet. It comes equipped with a specialized day and night camera with a laser range-finder on board.
