The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has awarded a contract to Airbus Defence and Space Airborne Solutions (ADAS), a 100% subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space, and its long-term partner Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to operate a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) RPAS for Maritime Aerial Surveillance services.
The service will be delivered in Greece, and/or Italy and/or Malta within a framework contract. The service includes the provision of an RPAS platform, payload, communication equipment and capacity, mission storage and all necessary experts managing the system and providing operational support. Under the contract, Airbus and IAI will provide the service for pre-planned assignments as well as for ad-hoc calls.
The maritime Heron RPAS from IAI serves a range of customers worldwide and is a part of the well-known “Heron family” which has accumulated over 450,000 flight hours, on day and night missions under all weather conditions. The system is capable of flying more than 24 hours in full operational configuration and creates a comprehensive, real-time, naval picture in geographical areas for potential surveillance interests, e.g. in the context of coordinated European monitoring activities.
