TSAMTO, June 7. The Philippine Air Force is conducting an investigation to find out the reasons for the emergency landing of the Hermes-900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at the Lambia airport in Cagayan de Oro on May 28.
According to the PNA news agency, with reference to the representative of the Philippine Air Force, Colonel Maynard Mariano, the UAV took off around 9:30 a.m. to perform a functional check (FCF). After takeoff, he flew to a range of 5 nautical miles east of Lambia and climbed to an altitude of 10,000 feet. After making sure that the FCF procedure was passed satisfactorily, the operators stopped testing and began descending at an altitude of 5,000 feet 1.5 miles east of Lambia. At about 11:46, communication with the UAV was interrupted.
The UAV "Hermes-900" made an emergency landing in an overgrown vegetation area, where a loss of communication was noted. No civilian casualties or property damage were reported. Representatives of the relevant services were called to investigate the causes of the problems.
According to M. Mariano, the UAV received significant damage, but is subject to restoration. At the moment, repair work is ongoing.
As reported by TSAMTO, the Philippine Air Force acquired three unmanned aircraft complexes with the Hermes-900 UAV and one with the Hermes-450 UAV, as well as Skylark LEX and Skylark-3 under a contract worth about 8.47 billion philips. pesos ($175 million). In addition to UAVs, the contract included the supply of ground control stations, ground data terminals, auxiliary equipment, training and integrated logistics support. Probably, the deal also included one former Hermes-450 in operation.
The first pair of Hermes-450 UAVs was transferred in August 2019.
Delivery of the first set of UAV "Hermes-900", which includes three devices, was completed in 2020.
The Philippine Air Force became the first operator of the Hermes-900 in Southeast Asia and the second user of the Hermes-450 in the region after Singapore.