A still taken from video footage of UVision's loitering munition test in Finland's High North. (UVision)
Israeli loitering munition specialist UVision has conducted a series of cold weather and high-altitude test flights in the Arctic and Himalayas.
UVision confirmed to Janes it had successfully satisfied “winter battlefield requirements in the Arctic region”, although company officials were unable to provide specific details because of customer sensitivities.
Officials confirmed Hero-120 – the company's medium-sized loitering munition, which features a multi-purpose warhead with both anti-tank and anti-personnel capabilities – had conducted a “series of flight missions in the Arctic region as part of a field evaluation under extreme winter environmental conditions”.
“Attended by representatives from several militaries with Arctic warfare capabilities, this evaluation was the concluding phase of a lengthy process, which included earlier test flights in the region, as well as extensive laboratory environmental tests, simulating the extreme temperatures, winds, and humidity conditions of the Arctic winter,” a spokesperson told Janes.
UVision was unable to comment on the location of the flight demonstrations but Janes has been informed by defence sources that the evaluation took place in Finland and that observers included members of the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF).
Flight tests took place in temperatures as low as -28°C, with a total of three rounds launched during the evaluation – two in dry conditions and one in the wet, company sources said.
“During the evaluation, [Hero-120] was successfully tested in both day and night missions for operating in challenging conditions, including extreme, low temperatures, heavy snow, strong winds, humidity, ice-forming flight conditions, low clouds, and limited visibility.
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