Tel Aviv: Elevating its standing in upcoming rivalry with American producers, the new versions of loitering weapon systems will be developed at the new US plant of UVision in response to the unique operating requirements of the US armed forces.

Last year, Israeli company UVision officially opened its US facility in Virginia. In early 2022, UVision was awarded through its business development partner, Mistral Inc. to supply the Hero-120 for the US Marine Corps Organic Precision Fire Mounted (OPF-M) System. The system will be integrated with LAV-M, JLTV, and LRUSV.

UVision’s Hero-120 OPF-M was selected after the completion of several successful demonstrations, tests and evaluation processes, proving the capabilities of the system. The Hero-120 OPF-M will provide the Marines Corps with ISR, highly accurate and precision indirect fire strike capabilities. In addition, the Israeli company will supply its multi-canister launcher tailored to the specific requirements of the USMC and integrate onto the LAV, JLTV and the LRUSV.

The Hero-120 is a mid-range, anti-armour weapon system which meets the complex requirements of the modern battlefield.  Hero-120 is a high precision smart loitering munition system with a unique aerodynamic structure that carries out pinpoint strikes against anti-armour, anti-material and anti-personnel targets including tanks, vehicles, concrete fortifications, and other soft targets in populated urban areas. The Hero-120’s high precision capability ensures minimal collateral damage. Its wide range of multi-purpose warheads enable the operational user to effectively engage all targets.

The fast growing demand for loitering weapon systems in the US armed forces brought the US facility to invest in the development on new versions.

The Israeli company was not available for details but sources said that the focus is on longer endurance, immunity against new defence systems and a larger variety of warheads.