The Swiss parliament on Monday approved the purchase of six Hermes 900 drones, at a cost of $250 million, from Israeli manufacturer Elbit Systems. While the parliamentary decision passed with a 30-12 majority, the minority representative argued that the drone was used by the IDF during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza last summer. Swiss Defense Minister Ueli Maurer, however, said his country did not purchase the drone from Israel or the IDF, but from a private firm, and that the drones were to be used for intelligence gathering purposes only. Meanwhile, Tuesday saw record numbers of people attend the international AUS&R (Autonomous Unmanned Systems & Robotics) drone expo in Rishon Lezion. Forty Israeli companies displayed their products to some 3,000 visitors from Israel and around the globe. In addition to unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned land and sea drones were also on display, including a submarine and a patrol ship called the Katana, which was presented as a vessel that can provide security for offshore gas and oil rigs. The two most popular items on display were the ThunderB, a small tactical UAV manufactured by Bluebird Aero Systems and unveiled for the first time to the public; and the Super Heron, made by Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., which made its public debut a year ago. According to IAI representative Dan Bichman, previous generations of the Heron have seen action on the battlefields of Afghanistan and are currently in use by 20 countries. The identities of some of these countries are confidential. The newest Heron has a more powerful engine than its predecessors, a range of over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), has a flight time of 40 hours and is designed to be able to carry a greater payload.
