Israel Aircraft Industries’ Brazilian affiliate, A.S. Avionics Services, has recently undertaken the first flight of its Caçador (“hunter”) MALE UAV from its facility at Botucatu, near São Paulo. The vehicle is an adaptation of IAI’s Heron 1 to meet the particular requirements of Brazilian agencies, and has been developed following the signing of a cooperation agreement between IAI (Chalet A29) and Avionics Services in 2013 to further develop UAVs for the domestic market. The Brazilian company has been providing the maintenance for Heron 1s flown by Brazil’s Federal Police since 2010.

Caçador is the first major result of IAI’s cooperation with Avionics Services. The aim is to develop an independent industrial base in Brazil for unmanned aerial systems to meet the country’s unique requirements, and involves considerable technology transfer. IAI has helped the Brazilian company in establishing its Botucatu plant as a domestic center of excellence for large and complex UAVs.

Operated by more than 20 countries, the Heron 1 is a Class 4 UAV offering long-endurance performance. The Caçador version can fly for more than 40 hours at up to 30,000 feet, and its mtow of 2,800 pounds (1,270 kilograms) allows it to carry multiple payloads. The Caçador features a wideband satellite communications capability that allows it to be operated at more than 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from base. Such a capability is required in Brazil, which has long borders and large areas of sparsely populated terrain.