The Hero-30 kamikaze drones to the Italian Special Forces
The Italian special forces are the European customer member of NATO destined to receive Hero-30 orbiting munitions produced by Rheinmetall in collaboration with the Israeli Uvision
The HERO-30 loitering ammunitions are arriving for the Italian SOF.
Last September the German company Rheinmetall and the Israeli company UVision announced that they had received their first order from a European NATO military force for the supply of Hero-30 combat and training ammunition, training courses and integrated logistics equipment and support .
Two months later Tenders Electronic Daily , an online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union dedicated to public procurement, published the contract award notice to Rheinmetall's subsidiary, RWM Italia, for the production of these types of ammunition.
No surprises in reality: the program is aimed at the acquisition of orbiting ammunition (loitering ammunitions) and related systems capable of performing surveillance, reconnaissance and engagement functions. It has already been included in the Dpp 2021-2023 with relative approval by the Defense commissions of House and Senate in autumn 2021.
While the precise number of ammunition on order remains confidential, the contract value is €3.88 million.
Loitering munitions, otherwise known as kamikaze drones, are being used extensively by both Ukraine and Russia in the ongoing war.
Deliveries are expected this year.
All the details.
WHAT IS THE HERO 30 SYSTEM
Orbiting munitions are unmanned aerial systems that crash into their targets and often explode on impact.
In particular, Hero 30 consists of a tube which contains a drone operated and entirely controlled by a single man. The original version weighs about 3 kg with an operating range ranging from 5 to 40 km, with a flight autonomy of 30 minutes and driven by a rear electric motor, launched with a special tube-shaped catapult.
THE CONTRACT
The tender indicates as the winner of the contract RWM Italia SpA based in Ghedi, in northern Italy. In 2021, UVision signed a strategic agreement with the Italian entity for the licensed production and development of Hero-type roaming ammunition. The partnership sees RWM Italia as prime contractor for the European market, supplying and manufacturing some ammunition components, assembly systems and managing the logistic support.
In fact, the training and maintenance courses for the use of remote guidance ammunition are included in the purchase package. It should be noted that the training course for operators will be held at the company headquarters located in the city of Tzur Igal in Israel.
WHAT THE DPP 2021-2023 PROVIDES
As stated in the Dpp 2021-2023, "the primary purpose of this acquisition is to increase the protection of the units employed in the Operational Theaters, thanks to an improvement in the surveillance and alerting and command and control capabilities, combined with a reduction in the potential collateral damages".
The operational purpose of the program is therefore to guarantee the self-defense of isolated Special Forces units in operational theaters, also considering the changed operational scenario in Iraq (Operation "Prima Parthica") and the use of Special Forces (FS) units of Defense in intelligence operations pursuant to Law 198/15, is specified in the technical file of the Defense General Staff.
THE VALUE OF THE PROGRAM
The program is financed from the budget of the Ministry of Defense through the resources allocated to the Ordinary Budget for a total amount of 3.88 million euros distributed over 5 years.
RHEINMETALL AND THE ISRAELINE UVISION ARE AIMING AT THE EUROPEAN MARKET
Reached by Defense News , RWM Italia sales and marketing manager Antonio Tessarotto declined to identify the details of the client and the contract. Tessarotto confirmed to Defense News that RWM Italia "currently deals exclusively with the European market, [where] countries outside this market are not covered by the agreement with UVision". He added that, across the region, there is strong interest in a better understanding of this weapon, which is highly accurate and minimizes collateral damage.
As the American newspaper points out, the Israeli Defense Forces have been managing the systems for years now, but its most recent customer is Argentina, the first Latin American country to purchase Hero-120 and Hero-30 ammunition.
For the Israeli company, the collaboration with Italy provides direct access to the European market and a means by which to promote its weapons to the armed forces of the region. But UVision has competition in Europe; American AeroVironment has sold Switchblade 300 and 600 systems to European customers. In particular, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States sent hundreds of Switchblade drones to Kiev.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/alle-forze-speciali-italiane-i-droni-kamikaze-hero-30/ on Wed, 25 Jan 2023 06:49:01 +0000.