A USMC 8Ă—8 Light Armored Vehicle-Mortar integrated with UVision's MCL. (UVision)
UVision has unveiled a new Multi-Canister Launcher (MCL), adapted for launching all types of the company's Hero series of loitering munitions from a single platform, that it is integrating on US Marine Corps (USMC) vehicles.
“MCL is designed for modular adaptation to various types and sizes of platform, from armoured vehicles to large, medium, and small watercraft, manned or autonomous,” the company said, adding that MCL enables forces to “store, transport, and launch the HERO loitering munition systems from a pre-loaded, sealed canister”.
MCL can be configured as a two-, four-, six-, or eight-cell launcher, and can launch multiple munitions simultaneously, UVision chairman Yair Ramati told Janes ahead of the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA's) annual conference.
Hero-variant loitering weapon systems include the Hero-30, Hero-120NG, and Hero-400EC. Other variants are under development. In a baseline configuration, all variants use a three-axis gimballed electro-optic/infrared intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and terminal guidance package; onboard Global Positioning System/INS navigation sensors; automated flight to target areas/visual selection of final target; a high-speed line-of-sight two-way datalink enabling real-time intelligence/situational awareness; and abort and recovery functions.
In June, the USMC contracted UVision to supply its Hero-120 for the corps' Organic Precision Fires-Mounted (OPF-M) requirement.
Signed with Mistral Inc, UVision's business development partner in the United States, the contract follows a January 2019 Marine Corps Systems Command request for information for an OPF-M system “capable of attacking targets at ranges exceeding the ranges of weapons systems currently in an organic infantry battalion [7 km] and up to 100 km”.
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