Drone Operators Train on Next-Generation Strike Systems

The Hungarian Defense Forces’ drone operator unit are preparing for the demands of modern battlefields. From October 5 to 9, drone operators underwent intensive specialist training at the Bakonykút training area, focusing on the deployment of the HERO 30 and HERO 120 remotely operated precision munition systems.

Manufactured through Israeli-Italian-German cooperation, this weapon system represents the cutting edge of drone warfare, honvedelem.hu reports.

The cruise missiles’ compressed-air launch system can be deployed in two minutes, making them ideally suited to support fast-moving maneuver units.

The drones are operated by two personnel: coordinated work between the launcher operator and the pilot is essential for the successful destruction of the target.

The HERO-30 drone, designed for use against personnel and lightly armored targets, can be guided to a target within a range of 15 kilometers, and its half-kilogram warhead contains several dozen ball-bearing projectiles. The drone can remain airborne for 30 minutes on a single charge.

The HERO-120 variant, equipped with a nearly five-kilogram warhead, can be deployed against armored targets and buildings within a range of 60 kilometers, with a flight time of 60 minutes. The cruise missiles are also equipped with night vision capabilities, and their rotatable cameras assist in target identification.

“The use of cruise missiles is a completely new capability for us. It is another dimension—it is as if we were shooting lightning bolts from the sky.

These systems represent the next generation. Fire control is a much more personal experience than with field artillery.

Here, I guide the projectile to the target right up to the last moment, which results in extraordinary accuracy,” said one of the operators.

The projectile itself is exceptionally safe and easy to handle. After launch, five different parameters must all be met simultaneously for the system to authorize arming, and we can deactivate it at any moment up until impact. Thus, these projectiles remain entirely under the operator’s control right up until the calculated moment of detonation.

Via honvedelem.hu, Featured image: Honvedelem.hu/Dávid Fabók

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