Aquaculture Project: Comparison to
KZO Sea Farms and Platform Grace
The TBE Prospector ISR drone was likewise to be based on the
KZO, but neither the Thunder nor the Prospector won orders.
The German contingent already deploys the
KZO and some smaller drones (see Drone Update, Armada 1/2010, page 26).
With a much longer range, its broadband datalink ensuring over 100 km line-of-sight coverage, an endurance in excess of 3.5 hours, a service ceiling of 3500 metres above sea level and an operational speed of about 150 km/h, the
KZO can cover a wide zone and quickly reach an area of interest.
Indeed, as reported by Armada in an earlier issue, under a programme called Wabep the German armed forces are investigating ways of using an attack drone that would operate in conjunction with its
KZO reconnaissance and artillery fire-support drones, the idea being to pilot the attack drone to target as opposed to merely sending it 'blind' to the crossing point of a set of geographical coordinates.
Luna and
KZO: Germany's drone products include the 160-kg Rheinmetall
KZO, the 30-kg EMT Luna X-2000 and the hand-launched 3.2-kg EMT Aladin.
Harop: Rheinmetall is now working with IAI on a system that would combine the
KZO with a loitering munition--presumably the new Harop, which has an EO sensor--a 23-kg warhead and an endurance of six hours.
The latter case is illustrated by the 161-kg Rheinmetall Defence Electronics
KZO, which carries a 35-kg payload for almost four hours and has a maximum speed of 250 km/hr.
The 160-kg Rheinmetall Defence Systems
KZO is to be deployed to Afghanistan by the German Army, which has ordered six systems each with ten aircraft.
The Opale can be fitted with a variety of sensors, but in the recent demonstration it carried the nose-mounted gimballed payload used by the Rheinmetall
KZO. According to a Rheinmetall spokesman, there are plans to carry out trials with a synthetic aperture radar.
Having partnered with Germany's Rheinmetall, Teledyne is marketing the
KZO as the Prospector--and Rheinmetall's Taifun as the Thunder drone--in the US market.
the Bundeswehr, that had Father Christmas's early visit and who brought the service its brand new
KZO. The delivery of the first system officially took place on 28 November and will be followed by another five by the end of 2007.