AN unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Philippine Air Force, acquired from an Israel defense manufacturer for $175 million (around P9.1 billion), crashed in Cagayan de Oro City last Saturday.
Air Force spokesman Col. Maynard Mariano said the Hermes 900 UAV, one of 14 UAVs in the PAF inventory, took off at around 9 a.m. from the Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City for a functional check flight (FCF).
“Upon take off, the UAV proceeded to 5NM (nautical miles) east of Lumbia and ascended to 10,000 feet. After finding the FCF procedure to be satisfactory, the pilots declared the termination of test and started to descend 5,000 feet 1.5 miles east of Lumbia Airport,” said Mariano.
However, Mariano said communications with the UAV was abruptly cut short at around 11:46 a.m.
Mariano said “all emergency procedures were performed and field service representatives were called for troubleshooting” but the efforts to save the UAV from crashing failed.
“The Hermes 900 crash landed in a vegetated area where it was confirmed to have lost contact. No civilian casualties and damage to properties were reported,” said Mariano.
“The command (Philippine Air Force) will be conducting a thorough investigation to determine the cause of such incident,” said Mariano.
The ill-fated vehicle was among the nine Hermes 900 and four Hermes 450 UAVs that were acquired a few years ago from Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems Ltd. for $175 million.
The acquisition of the UAVs was part of the ongoing modernization program of the Armed Forces.
Hermes 900 UAVs are designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition, among others.
Weighing about 1,180 kilos with a payload of about 350 kilos, Hermes 900s have a flight endurance of up to 36 hours and can fly at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
