Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: ESLT), announced that its Hermes® 900 UAV completed a successful maiden flight and will commence serial production following the completion of additional flight tests. The Hermes 900 is based on the successful track record of the Hermes 450 that has accumulated more than 170,000 flight hours and is one of less than handful of UAVs in the world to cross the 100,000 operational flight hour's barrier.

The new Hermes 900 offers additional key capabilities, such as longer endurance, flight altitude of more than 30,000 ft, large payload capacity (up to 300kg), modular design allowing fast payload replacement and flight capabilities in adverse weather conditions. Hermes 900 offers an advanced SATCOM channel and is operated from Elbit Systems' universal command & control ground station (UGCS), enabling advanced mission management, automatic taxiing, autonomous flight and automatic takeoff and landing systems common to all the UAVs and in the Hermes family. The Hermes 900 also includes innovative avionics and electronic systems and a silent engine, as well as systems required for flight in a combined civil and unmanned aviation area. The new UAV offers additional cutting edge technologies and applications such as electro-optic systems, laser designators and electronic intelligence sensors (ELINT, COMINT).