MALE UAV Launched

CACADOR

This coming June 30, Avionics Services S.A. officially launches its “MALE” UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) class 4 Caçador. The launching will take place at the Municipal Airdrome of Botucatu (SDBK) starting at 11:00. The event includes a retrospective of the project, the system’s capacity and information about its strong potential for usage in intelligence tactical missions by the Armed Forces, civilian defense, environmental defense, and agribusiness. It will conclude with a demonstration flight and real-time monitoring scheduled for around 14:00.

Caçador is based on the Heron-1 UAV, operated by more than 20 customers worldwide and developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which has been in use in Brazil by the Federal Police Department for more than 5 years, and whose maintenance has been conducted by Avionics itself. The aircraft has already complied with all proper regulations and obtained all permits required by the Brazilian government authorities. It is the only domestic UAV class 4 in operation in the country.

Among its features, Caçador is a medium-altitude, long endurance UAV capable of flying for more than 40 hours at an altitude of up to 30,000 feet, covering a 1,000 km range. The maximum takeoff weight  is 1.270 kg, allowing Caçador to transport multiple payloads simultaneously for a variety of missions. Moreover, the aircraft includes a wideband satellite communication channel for a range over 1,000 km from its command and control station—a valuable feature, especially in the case of large countries such as Brazil.

Since signing a contract for cooperation 3 years ago, IAI and Avionics Services have been working together to establish a strong Brazilian industrial base in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles. The process includes the transfer of technology and know-how in order to ensure more independence to the Brazilian industry and proficiency in advanced and complex unmanned systems.  Avionics Services has laid the necessary infrastructure at the Airdrome of Botucatu for it to become a center of excellence for unmanned systems of this range.