Greece Purchases Orbiter 3 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles From Israel
With a post on its social media account on April 20, Israel-based defense company Aeronautics announced that it will supply Orbiter 3 type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Greece. The company stated that the aforementioned UAVs were recently purchased as part of an intergovernmental contract between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Greek Ministry of Defense, which also included Rafael’s Spike Anti-Tank Missiles worth 370 million euros. However, information such as how many Orbiter 3 UAVs Greece will purchase, the delivery process, and the contract cost were not disclosed.
According to Israel Defense, Aeronautics Group CEO Dan Slasky said in a statement on the contract, “We are proud to be a part of this significant cooperation with Rafael in the G2G agreement with the Greek MOD. This collaboration demonstrates the technological synergy and the close business integration between the two companies,” he continued, “we also thank the Israeli Ministry of Defense, which has invested significant efforts to facilitate the agreement, and the Greek Ministry of Defense for expressing its confidence in Aeronautics’ solution.”
In conjunction with the Fire Weaver C4I system, it is believed that the Greek Army’s Orbiter 3 UAVs will be utilized in a sensor-to-shooter system with Spike missiles launched from the air, land, or sea. Fire Weaver is a networked sensor-to-shooter system from Rafael.
The Orbiter 3 is a small tactical drone that was developed by Aeronautics, an Israeli defense company owned by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Stolero Aeron. According to the company’s information, this combat-proven system is used for intelligence, surveillance, target identification, and reconnaissance. The vehicle, which can navigate even in a GPS-free environment and endure adverse weather conditions, can carry payloads weighing up to 5.5kg, including multi-sensor stabilized EO payloads with laser target designation systems. The UAV, which is launched using a catapult system, has a total weight of 32kg, a width of 4.4 meters, and a length of 1.2 meters. The drone is powered by an electric motor and can fly for 6 hours at a maximum speed of 70 knots.