Elbit to Make UAVs for France SF

Elbit Systems Ltd., a Haifa, Israel-based defense electronics company, will supply Skylark I mini-UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) systems to France's Special Forces, its first UAV contract with France. Elbit's Skylark mini-UAV employs a man-pack configuration designed for day and night observation and data collection up to distances of 10 km. The hand-launched system, designed especially for counter-terror applications, features a gyroscopic-stabilized gimbaled payload and a high degree of autonomous flight from take-off to recovery. Equipped with algorithms derived from larger Hermes UAVs, the Skylark can track fixed and moving targets from altitutes of more than 16,000 feet, even in extreme weather conitions, Elbit said. The systems were recently used for reconnaisance by the Israeli Defense Forces in Lebanon and are being used by coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.