Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE:ESLT) is unveiling the Skylark 3 Hybrid Small Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (STUAS) at the Singapore Airshow 2022. The Skylark 3 Hybrid is equipped with a hybrid propulsion system, both an electric and an internal combustion engine, tripling endurance and offering up to 18 hours of operations, with no change to size or weight. This significantly increases mission effectiveness and cuts costs.
The Skylark 3 Hybrid's combustion engine enables it to fly rapidly to its target area where it switches to the quiet electrical engine. The twin engine architecture of the new Skylark allows one to back up the other, providing greater reliability and safety. The significantly higher endurance of the Skylark 3 Hybrid provides forces with greater capacity to hover above AOI and requires fewer platforms to execute the same mission.
Sources at Elbit have told "Globes" that dozens of the new small tactical drone have already been purchased although the sources declined to comment on which countries are customers. Skylark 3 Hybrid is based on the Skylark family of STUAS that have been ordered by 27 countries, to date. Those countries have been offered an upgrade.
Skylark 3 Hybrid has a 4.7 meter wingspan, a maximum takeoff weight of 50 kilograms, service ceiling of 12,000 feet and a range of 120 kilometers, and features dual payload capacity with a "plug and play" interface for a quick replacement of sensors in the field. The Skylark 3 Hybrid is capable of integrating a range of payloads including high-resolution Electro-Optical gimbaled payload, ELINT, COMINT, laser designators and others. It is deployed and operated by a crew of two, launched via a pneumatic launcher and can be mounted on a vehicle or vessel. Two Skylark 3 Hybrid STUAS can be assigned to the same mission simultaneously managed by a shared Ground Control Station.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 14, 2022.
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