At the Laturn Conference, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd is expected to unveil OTHELLO or the Optical Hostile Fire Source Locator. The system was developed by its subsidiary ELTA Systems Ltd. It is a passive optical fire locator, which detects and precisely locates the sources of hostile fire.
OTHELLO can identify fire on the battlefield from anti-tank guided missiles, RPG, cannon fire and gunfire. The OTHELLO also gives details of launch timing and threat classification. It can be mounted on light tactical armored vehicles, airborne platforms and infantry fighting vehicles.
In the future it could be integrated with other systems such as remote controlled weapon stations, active protection systems, command and control systems and soft and hard kill measures. Other aerial and ground unmanned vehicle systems that the Israel Aerospace Industries will present include the GHOST, ETOP and REX.
GHOST is a small hovering unmanned platform that provides real-time intelligence to ground forces operating in urban areas. The 4 kg platform is equipped with an automatic vertical takeoff & landing system. It can fly up to 30 minutes. It has twin rotary electrical engines to minimize its acoustic signature. It can work in both day and night missions.
The Electric Tethered Observation Platform or ETOP is an electric powered airborne platform. It can be used for observation and can be deployed from a moving vehicle or static position. It can carry a payload of 20 kgs and can fly to a height of 100m.
REX is a robot that is designed to carry troop supplies on ground. It can move up to 61 miles and carry up to 200 kgs, effectively it’s a robotic beast of burden that can support 3 to 10 soldiers in a dismounted infantry unit. The company first unveiled it in 2009 but now the latest model is more compact and smarter.