IDEX, Abu Dhabi, 20-26/2, EDT’s Stand 11-C07
14 February 2023. Steadicopter – a leader in the Rotary Unmanned Aerial Systems (RUAS) industry,
and BIRD Aerosystems – a global provider of innovative defense technology and solutions that
protect the air, sea, and land fleets of governments and related agencies, are unveiling the
BlackEagle 50H (BE50H) – an advanced hybrid unmanned helicopter, featuring a miniature airborne
radar with advanced proprietary technology, for use in maritime intelligence missions.
Advanced capabilities for long endurance of up to five hours, together with BIRD Aerosystems’
µMPR capabilities for the detection and tracking of maritime vessels, enable the BE50H to carry out
accurate mapping of all vessels within a radius of 200 km within a few hours, in harsh
environmental conditions, day or night.
A true game-changer for uncrewed operations, the BE50H provides its users with the most cost-
effective solution for both ISR and pinpoint CAS operations, in both the land and maritime domains,
by enabling a unique combination of impressive flight endurance and an extremely versatile sensor
suite.
With its open architecture modular design, the BE50H accommodates the latest mission payloads,
such as BIRD Aerosystems’ µMPR. Coupled with the µMPR, the BE50H provides a first-ever
combination of a small tactical RUAS (with a near-to-zero operational, maintenance & logistic
footprint), capable of wide-area persistent surveillance and coverage for long durations on the one
hand, with all the advantages of the rotary-UAS, such as persistent hovering, which enable
additional concepts of operations for many mission applications, on the other.
Implementing sophisticated patented design features, together with powerful signal processing
algorithms, BIRD Aerosystems’ µMPR uniquely detects and tracks maritime vessels with 100%
identification accuracy. Implemented in a single small Line Replaceable Unit (LRU), the µMPR is
extremely lightweight, with very low power consumption. It can be installed in conjunction with AIS
and an electro-optical (EO/IR) payload, perform automatic cross-cues between the radar and the
EO/IR sensor to confirm target identification, and automatically inform ground control using a
precise geo-reference.
“Maritime border protection is one of the most prominent needs in the world today,” says Noam
Lidor, VP Sales, Marketing & Business Development at Steadicopter. “The combination of the
proven advantages of a hybrid unmanned helicopter system with long flight endurance that enables
coverage of large maritime surfaces, with radar capabilities for identifying and locating hostile ships
at ranges of several tens of kilometers, provides the vessel’s crew with an accurate intelligence picture within a wide radius of hundreds of kilometers, thereby giving them a significant advantage for mission success.”
Ronen Factor, Co-CEO and Founder of BIRD Aerosystems, added: “Ideal for the protection of
maritime borders and strategic assets, BIRD’s innovative µMPR cuts through sea clutter and
significantly increases mission effectiveness and cost efficiency. Small and lightweight, it can easily
be installed on unmanned aerial systems, such as Steadicopter’s BlackEagle 50H, to create a cost-
effective surveillance platform with excellent performance”.