Elbit Systems Ltd. has been awarded two contracts valued at a total of approximately $20 million to upgrade the capabilities of its Hermes 900 UAS.

Expected to be performed within a 12-month period, the contracts come from Latin American customers of Elbit Systems. 

Under the contracts, Elbit will equip its Hermes 900 UAS that the customers are currently operating with satellite communication systems and automatic takeoff and landing systems. The upgrade will advance the Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS to the latest configuration, and extend their operational range to more than 1000 kilometers. The UAS will also be able to perform takeoff and landing autonomously and independent of GPS reception. 

Several customers across four continents have selected the Hermes UAS for various operations since its debut a decade ago. Some of the fields that the UAS has performed missions in include Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR), homeland security and maritime search and rescue.