Hermes Prowls The Long Coast Of Chile

photo defense-update.com

June 25, 2011: STRATEGY PAGE

Chile is the first export customer for the Israeli Hermes 900 UAV. Last year, Israel became the first buyer of the Hermes 900. It was only two years ago that Israeli aircraft manufacturer Elbit conducted the first flight test of the Hermes 900. This UAV is similar in size (and appearance) to the American Predator (both weighing 1.1 tons), but the Israeli vehicle is built mainly for endurance. It has a 10 meter (31 foot) wingspan. The Hermes 900 can stay in the air for 36 hours, and has a payload of 300 kg (650 pounds). This means that, with its cruising speed of 125 kilometers an hour, the Hermes 900 has a max range of 4,500 kilometers. Thus the Hermes 900 could fly to Iran (1,500 kilometers distant), do some reconnaissance, and return. Although the 900 has a quiet engine, it is fairly visible, even at its highest altitude (nearly 10,000 meters/30,000 feet). So a trip to Iran and back is unlikely, even if it is quite possible. Chile will use two or more Hermes 900s for reconnaissance along the coast. Chile has a 4,630 kilometer long coastline, but is only 430 kilometers wide. In effect, Chile occupies the southern half of the South American Pacific coast. Patrolling that has always been a chore, and usually just wasn't done much. The southernmost area, ending in the Drake Passage at the southern tip of South America, has very rough weather. So a Hermes 900 could patrol most of the Chilean coast in about 30 hours. 

The Hermes 900 is basically a stretched and bulked up Hermes 450, which is a 450 kg (992 pound) aircraft, with a payload of 150 kg. It can also carry Hellfire missiles. The Hermes 450 is 6.5 meters (20 feet long) and a 11.3 meter (35 foot) wingspan. It can stay in the air for up to 20 hours per sortie, and fly as high as 6,500 meters (20,000 feet). The Hermes 450 is the primary heavy UAV for the Israeli armed forces.