Saudi Arabia to Buy Armed Seeker from South Africa


According to Intelligence Online, after the U.S. denied Saudi Arabia’s request to purchase missile-firing UAS, Saudi Arabia will be the first country to buy a new armed UAS from South Africa called the Seeker 400.

Though it utilizes the Seeker II architectural design, the Seeker 400 is a totally new aircraft. The Seeker 400 is much larger and much more capable than the Seeker II. It provides a variety of operational options. It is deployable in most conditions, including taking off from an unprepared piece of land.

Monaheng describes the Seeker 400 as a “typical entry-level” towards the long-endurance UAV (MALE). It can stay in the air for 16 hours and can simultaneously operate two payloads. Currently, it has a range of 250 km, because it uses only line-of-sight communications, but it could be upgraded to use satellite communications, which would allow it to operate at much greater ranges. With the use of the existing tactical ground station (TGS), the range may be extended to 750km. The Seeker 400 flight test programme will run for most of 2012, and production should start by the end of that year.

Source: Huffington Post, UAS Vision

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