EMT has announced the 50th flight sortie of its LUNA TUAS (Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System), with a EASA certified, ADS-B (Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) transponder in Afghanistan.
LUNA’s new ADS-B transponder ensures electronic visibility to the air traffic controller, enabling better coordination of unmanned and manned aircraft in air space.
“This is a big leap forward for us and our customer, the Bundeswehr. With the addition of the ADS-B transponder, flight operations of the proven LUNA tactical UAS are now even safer, because this option eases airspace integration”, says Sascha Lange, Business development manager for EMT. LUNA continues to deliver actionable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). The LUNA TUAS has been providing essential ISR in overseas deployments since 2000.
Fielding frequent technology upgrades, EMT has built on lessons learned in theatres around the globe to meet the urgent requirements of the German Bundeswehr with the proven LUNA TUAS platform. LUNA ́s growing capabilities (IMINT, SAR, SIGINT, CBRN) are leading to further international operations. The LUNA TUAS has been operational in Afghanistan, in extremely austere environmental conditions, since 2003.
LUNA is a small-operational footprint, runway-independent TUAS. It can deploy a wide range of payloads such as EO/IR, SAR, SIGINT or CBRN sensors, and relay payloads. LUNA can stay aloft for 8 hours. It is thus very flexible and can respond to fast-changing mission requirements. The close and organic integration of the runway- independent LUNA TUAS in army units provides near real-time availability of ISR results at the tactical level.
With various UAS families, over 750 tactical UAVs delivered to customers on three continents and with more than 11 years operational experience, EMT is the leading European developer, manufacturer and service provider for affordable Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TUAS).
Source: Press Release