Athens: SAS Technology wrote a new page in the history of the Greek and international defence industry on Tuesday (April 25,2023) as it completed successfully the aerial firing of the SARISA UCAV with a 2.75” rocket (type Hydra 70) and in particular the type FZ-90 built by Thales Belgium.
The firing test took place at a firing range that belongs to the Hellenic MOD’s, General Directorate for Defense investments and Armaments (GDDIA). This effort is also an international first, since the HYDRA 70 type rocket, for the first time internationally, was fired successfully, from a small and easily transportable drone. Following this successful test, this system has been proven capable to provide organic CAS (Close Air Support) capabilities to military units Operational Capabilities of the of the Tested System Operationally, the UCAV SARISA (in several areas), is now a proven effective, economical and versatile substitute, for the very expensive attack helicopters, especially when equipped with laser guided rockets.
Some of the operational capabilities of the SARISA/HYDRA 70 system, either with guided or the unguided rocket, are as follows :
- Defence of islands against naval invasion operations
- In Special Forces Operations
- As an organic system on Naval Units
- Many other similar applications as an organic system, at the disposal of the local Commanders, reducing their reliance to limited operational resources such as fighter jets and attack helicopters
Development History
SAS Technology is the first Greek company, that succeeded not only in conceiving, designing, and manufacturing professional unmanned systems, but also the first that developed the capability to install and successfully test on them many different weapons and ammunition in addition to the powerful rocket HYDRA 70, such as RPG 18 RPG 26, Grenades, mortar shells, creating historically the first Greek UCAV, the SARISA SRS-1A, with the UCAV ARES ARS-1A and EMPUSA EMP-X6T following short after.
The successful firing program of UCAV SARISA, with 2.75 rockets (Hydra 70), is among the framework of these activities, while many more new innovative programs follow, some of which, with special characteristics of ingenuity and innovation, will be officially presented at the upcoming international exhibition DEFEA (9-11 May).
This successful aerial firing test was a real-world trial that was a result of a plethora of theoretical analyses of scientific data that required countless hours of work by SAS team members. The test was organized and executed by SAS Technology team, under the supervision and guidance of the local GDDIA personnel that manages the firing range, with the active support of the personnel of the Hellenic Defense Systems (HDS) with which SAS Technology has an active and highly productive memorandum of cooperation in recent years.
Thales Belgium’s technical team was also actively involved in the tests. Thales Belgium is a branch of the international French corporation Thales, that is specializing in weapons systems such as the 2.75 rockets. This company after meeting with SAS Technology, recognized the operational value of the particular SAS Technology project, and actively joined and contributed significantly to this effort.
Next Steps
The roadmap of the whole program continues with additional fire testing, to optimize the targeting capabilities and develop the operational tactics of the system, but this remaining portion of the development program, is now based on solid foundation.
