Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) Skylark unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), deployed by the Canadian Army in Afghanistan, were grounded following an operational malfunction. Elbit has confirmed the grounding of the UAVs.
British weekly, "Flight International" reported that Canada, one of the allied forces in Afghanistan would halt use of the Skylark 1 model UAVs after a series of operational malfunctions "which disrupted operations".
The deployment of Elbit's Skylark by the Canadian Army in Afghanistan is relatively new. The deal with the Canadian Army for the sale of 15 UAV's was concluded in June.
Elbit notes that it was not the client who decided to ground the planes. "The recommendation came from Elbit. "The Canadians (another unit which deploys the planes H.M.) continue to use the Skylark in the same region and in others."
The British weekly quotes a technical director in the Canadian Army interim small UAV programme, Captain Rob Sanders as saying, "Most of them aren't flying in Afghanistan. For some reason, in some parts of the country it will fly great, or today it will fly. The same one, at a separate time tonight, won't fly. So they have grounded them all trying to figure out what is going on. We are sending a couple of specialists over there to sort that out."
Sanders said the Skylark acquisition has also raised problems over sharing information with the army's Sagem Sperwer tactical UAVs also deployed in Afghanistan. "Skylark and Sperwer don't talk," he says. "Skylark won't talk to any of the other assets we have got over there."
Canadian units have found the Skylark ground-control system susceptible to wash-out, with users required to rig up sun-shields from cardboard. "As soon as they got sunlight on the screen, they couldn't see anything," said Sanders.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 12, 2006
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