In nature, the golden eagle is one of the most recognizable raptors. It’s a patient hunter, knowing just when and how to strike its prey. Steadicopter’s Golden Eagle drone, is a little different, but takes the idea of patient hunting into the 21st century.
In May, Steadicopter, based in Israel, revealed its revolutionary new Rotary Unmanned Aerial System (RUAS) for the first time in Greece. The Golden Eagle is the world’s first RUAS with precision strike capability.
What does that mean? Most loitering munitions are essentially guided rockets with large blast areas. Not a great choice if an operator needs to avoid collateral damage. The Golden Eagle, on the other hand, can pick a single target out of a crowd and launch a specific strike. Whether it’s a soldier or drone: one shot, one hit.
The Golden Eagle is based on Steadicopter’s battle-proven Black Eagle, a game-changer in the world of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). It’s a fully electric helicopter drone, which means it can take off and land vertically.
The Golden Eagle weighs a little over 100 pounds, takes up very little space, is cheap to make and it can hover for an hour. The talons on this bird, though, are what makes it truly remarkable.
The Golden Eagle incorporates Smartshooter’s SMASH Dragon technology into its targeting systems. Smartshooter, also based in Israel, makes unique targeting sights that use proprietary technology to turn just about any infantryman into a short-range sniper. The site locks onto a target and the gun won’t fire until a high-probability lethal shot can be taken.
With a 7-pound payload capacity, the Golden Eagle can carry just about any assault rifle in use today. It can also carry sniper rifles, 40 mm grenade launchers or other high precision ammunition. Steadicopter said the Golden Eagle can be deployed on battlefields, to protect borders, or any environment where terrorists may be hiding amongst innocent civilians.
