Thailand signs contract for Elbit Hermes 900 UAVs

 

The Hermes 900 UAV. Photo c/o Marc Israel Sellem.

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) will procure the Hermes 900 medium altitude long endurance unmanned aerial system (MALE UAS), with a contract signed with Israel’s Elbit Systems to supply them for THB4 billion (US$107 million).

The RTN’s Commander in Chief Admiral Somprasong Nilsamai and Elbit Systems’ Director of Business Development and Marketing Mr. Nissim Assaf Cohen signed the contract between the two parties.

No mention was made on the total quantity being procured, but the RTN mentioned that budget has been set to procure the UAS over a period of 4 years from 2022 to 2025.

The Hermes 900 was selected to meet requirements for UAS that will conduct patrols on Thai waters and shipping routes, prevent and suppress illegal activities at sea, as well as assist in sea rescue missions.

The RTN also confirmed that the Hermes 900 will be armed and can accurately attack targets, which points that they are configured to be unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) which can be used for strike missions and armed with small air-to-surface missiles.

Thailand becomes the second user of the Hermes 900 in the Southeast Asian region, with the Philippines receiving theirs a few years ago. Other countries operating the Hermes 900 include Israel, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Iceland, Mexico, and Switzerland.

The RTN also operates the smaller Hermes 450 which it procured in 2017.

[1] Thai Daily News

[2] Reuters

[3] Flight Global