We first mentioned the Firestorm UAS during AUSA but leaned more about this armed quadcopter during the SIG Defense Range Day. With an APUS 60 airframe from Israeli Aerospace Industries combined with a lightweight remote weapon station and M250 machine gun and 200 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition from SIG SAUER, the system offers persistent, dedicated close air support. Essentially, it is an airborne machine gun.
Thanks to its multi-fuel internal combustion engine, boasting on station time of three hours, a unit equipped with several Firestorms could stagger sorties in order to offer 24-hour coverage. Unlike battery powered drones with short flight times and long recharge times leads to severe gaps in operations.
Another factor for the duration is that the engine runs as a fixed RPM and speed and station keeping is achieved through changing the blade pitch. This allows the Firestorm to take off and land in up to 23 knot winds and fly in winds up to 40 knots. The use of altered blade pitch reacts 10x faster than traditional engine RPM changes. This offers another advantage. The engine doesn’t change pitch as the UAS reacts to control input making it less likely to be detected by sound.
What’s more, in spite of its long hover time, the Firestorm retains ample power for the onboard weapon station. The max takeoff weight is 72kg with a payload weight of 35kg.
The Micolight remote weapon station is based on the General Robotics Bulldog but is more compact and smaller weighing just under 10kg. It is optimized for use with the SIG Medium Machine Gun chambered in 7.62mm NATO. The weapon station can see out your 25km, incorporating an electro optical sensor with 10x zoom and the Infrared sensor offers 5x zoom. Additionally, there is a laser range finder and the software includes automatic target recognition and tracking functions.
An interesting feature is that the training burden is lower than with other larger drones and utilizes a unified control system for both remote weapon station and flight. In fact, when the weapon is engaged, the Firestorm assumes a hover but can quickly transition into a move and scoot mode by the operator to balance survivability and target engagement. While engagement has only been tested so far in hover, the development team is working on the ability to engage while moving.
The system is easily transportable with foldable arms which are quickly placed into action and has undergone testing with foreign customers.
We will provide more information on this system as we receive it.