SOURCE: IDRW.ORG
At Swavlamban 2024, Artemon Aerospace introduced a groundbreaking Loitering Munition designed to integrate seamlessly with the Indian Navy’s P-8I maritime patrol aircraft. This innovative system, capable of launching from the P-8I’s sonobuoy tubes, offers a unique combination of surveillance and precision strike capabilities, presenting a new tactical asset for anti-surface and reconnaissance missions over sea.
One of the most striking features of Artemon’s Loitering Munition is its compatibility with the P-8I’s sonobuoy tubes, which allows the aircraft to deploy up to 120 of these units in a single mission. Designed to be launched mid-air from the sonobuoy tubes, the loitering munitions offer an operationally efficient and swift launch process.
The munitions are also capable of operating in swarm mode, which enables multiple units to be deployed simultaneously and function cooperatively. When used in swarm mode, the loitering munitions can work together to identify, track, and engage targets, presenting a formidable deterrent against hostile surface vessels or submarines.
Artemon’s Loitering Munition is designed for dual-use applications, equipped with a high-resolution EO/IR (Electro-Optical/Infrared) panning camera suite. This suite allows the munition to perform extensive surveillance, capturing high-quality video and audio in real-time, making it an invaluable asset for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
In addition to its ISR capabilities, the loitering munition can be armed with a 1 to 1.5 kg warhead, allowing it to operate as a kamikaze drone when required. This payload provides enough explosive force to damage or destroy light surface vessels or other targets at sea. The kamikaze mode, with a range of up to 100 kilometers and an endurance of 1 hour, offers flexibility in engagement options, enabling operators to conduct strikes or abort the mission if the tactical situation changes.
Constructed from carbon fiber, the loitering munition is both lightweight and durable, enabling extended endurance and low radar detectability. This carbon fiber build, in combination with its compact size, makes it challenging to detect and intercept, especially in high-threat environments. The material composition also contributes to its extended endurance, supporting the UAV’s range and making it suitable for extended missions over the sea.
The addition of Artemon’s Loitering Munition significantly enhances the capabilities of the P-8I aircraft, transforming it from a traditional patrol aircraft to a multi-role ISR and strike platform. With the capacity to launch a large number of munitions that can operate in swarm mode, the P-8I gains the ability to control multiple loitering munitions over a broad area, creating a versatile offensive and surveillance network.
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