Singapore Selects Israeli Hermes 900 Drones for 24-Hour Eyes on Urban and Littoral Threats
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The Republic of Singapore Air Force will phase in Elbit Systems Hermes 900 drones to replace its two-decade-old Hermes 450 fleet as part of the SAF2040 modernization plan. The move boosts Singapore’s intelligence and surveillance reach, enhancing urban and maritime situational awareness across Southeast Asia’s busiest sea lanes.
The Republic of Singapore Air Force announced on November 3, 2025, that Singapore will progressively take delivery of Elbit Systems Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicles to replace the Hermes 450, which has served for close to two decades and is becoming obsolete. The RSAF said the H900 was selected after “robust and thorough evaluations” to best meet operational needs under the SAF2040 transformation plan. This acquisition is important for Singapore: with no strategic depth, the city-state must invest in technological solutions to enhance both its offensive and defensive capacities.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Singapore’s new Hermes 900 UAV offers 36-hour endurance, 30,000-foot altitude, and advanced sensors for long-range surveillance and urban defense operations (Picture source: Singapore Air Force).
The Hermes 900 is a medium altitude long endurance workhorse built around a 15-meter wingspan airframe with up to 36 hours endurance, a service ceiling near 30,000 feet, and a payload capacity in the 300 to 350 kilogram class depending on configuration. Elbit literature and recent contracts point to a modular architecture that supports electro-optical and infrared turrets, maritime and synthetic aperture radars with GMTI, wide area sensors such as SkEye, signals intelligence packages and satellite communications for beyond line of sight control. In a 2022 release, Elbit highlighted deliveries of H900s equipped with SkEye, SPECTRO XR multispectral EO, SATCOM and SIGINT payloads, underscoring the platform’s ability to carry multiple sensors simultaneously.
Propulsion is typically provided by a Rotax 914 turbocharged four-cylinder engine in a rear pusher configuration, an efficient powerplant widely used on MALE-class UAVs. In family variants such as the Hermes 900 StarLiner, Elbit has emphasized full compliance with NATO’s STANAG 4671 airworthiness standard and civil airspace integration features, relevant attributes for Singapore’s dense airspace, even if not explicitly specified for the RSAF configuration.
The outgoing Hermes 450, introduced into RSAF service in the late 2000s and declared fully operational in 2015, is a smaller tactical ISR platform. MINDEF’s official fact sheet lists a 10.5-meter wingspan, endurance of more than 14 hours, a line of sight range of around 100 kilometers, a cruise near 70 knots and a payload tailored to EO/IR with laser designation. The airframe is powered by a UAV Engines Wankel R802 series rotary engine, reflecting its lighter tactical design. In simple terms, the H900 roughly doubles on-station time, carries more than twice the payload, ascends to higher altitudes and adds SATCOM control and multi-sensor carriage that the H450 could not match.
For a city-state with no strategic depth, Singapore’s security community has long described how the island’s compressed geography demands qualitative superiority, decision speed and persistent awareness rather than attritional mass. The Hermes 900’s endurance allows true round-the-clock urban and littoral overwatch with fewer sorties. A maritime radar plus EO/IR loadout can surveil the Singapore and Malacca Straits, track small craft through clutter, and provide identification before force is applied in dense shipping lanes. Wide area persistent surveillance like SkEye can stitch a real-time mosaic of multiple neighborhoods, enabling commanders to cue ground forces and police units while minimizing collateral risk. Airborne relay payloads extend secure networks across high-rise canyons, keeping joint communications alive if infrastructure is disrupted. These are precisely the attributes the SAF pursues as part of SAF2040’s push for a more connected, data-driven force.
The H900 will sit at the center of a Singaporean kill chain that links sensors to shooters across services. In peacetime, the same aircraft contribute to interdiction, search and rescue and humanitarian response without tying up manned ISR assets. In contingency, an H900 can detect, classify and identify a threat boat, designate it for naval or air fires, or hand off targeting-quality tracks to artillery, compressing the sensor-to-shooter timeline that matters in Singapore’s urban and littoral battlespace. The Jerusalem Post framed the selection in terms of advanced surveillance and potential strike roles seen in other operators; Singapore has not confirmed an armament plan, but the ability to carry designators and pass coordinates alone represents a significant lethality upgrade for joint fires.
The RSAF introduced the H450 to modernize ISR a decade ago and always faced finite growth headroom. Under SAF2040, renewal cycles are aligning aging fleets with digitally networked successors. While the service has not released numbers or a delivery schedule, it’s noted that aircraft will arrive “progressively,” suggesting a phased transition at squadron level, beginning with training and test acceptance while legacy airframes retire in tranches. This mirrors Singapore’s broader procurement ethos of steady investment to maintain a technological edge while avoiding capability gaps.
Singapore’s defense ecosystem routinely partners with trusted foreign suppliers while drawing on ST Engineering and DSO National Laboratories for integration and support. Elbit’s Hermes 900 family continues to win orders globally and has fielded configurations for maritime, homeland security and civil airspace integration, a trajectory that provides a broad payload and software roadmap for Singapore over the aircraft’s life. For a small but wealthy nation that must defend vital sea lanes and a globalized economy, buying into a mature, widely supported MALE ecosystem is a hedge against rapid technological change.
Moving from Hermes 450 to Hermes 900 is not a like-for-like swap but a leap from a tactical ISR drone to a multi-sensor, SATCOM-enabled node built for complex civil-military airspace. In a neighborhood where gray zone pressure at sea and dense urban terrain ashore converge on Singapore’s doorstep, the H900 delivers persistent eyes, connective tissue and targeting precision that fit the SAF’s core doctrine of seeing first, deciding first and acting precisely.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
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The Republic of Singapore Air Force will phase in Elbit Systems Hermes 900 drones to replace its two-decade-old Hermes 450 fleet as part of the SAF2040 modernization plan. The move boosts Singapore’s intelligence and surveillance reach, enhancing urban and maritime situational awareness across Southeast Asia’s busiest sea lanes.
The Republic of Singapore Air Force announced on November 3, 2025, that Singapore will progressively take delivery of Elbit Systems Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicles to replace the Hermes 450, which has served for close to two decades and is becoming obsolete. The RSAF said the H900 was selected after “robust and thorough evaluations” to best meet operational needs under the SAF2040 transformation plan. This acquisition is important for Singapore: with no strategic depth, the city-state must invest in technological solutions to enhance both its offensive and defensive capacities.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Singapore’s new Hermes 900 UAV offers 36-hour endurance, 30,000-foot altitude, and advanced sensors for long-range surveillance and urban defense operations (Picture source: Singapore Air Force).
The Hermes 900 is a medium altitude long endurance workhorse built around a 15-meter wingspan airframe with up to 36 hours endurance, a service ceiling near 30,000 feet, and a payload capacity in the 300 to 350 kilogram class depending on configuration. Elbit literature and recent contracts point to a modular architecture that supports electro-optical and infrared turrets, maritime and synthetic aperture radars with GMTI, wide area sensors such as SkEye, signals intelligence packages and satellite communications for beyond line of sight control. In a 2022 release, Elbit highlighted deliveries of H900s equipped with SkEye, SPECTRO XR multispectral EO, SATCOM and SIGINT payloads, underscoring the platform’s ability to carry multiple sensors simultaneously.
Propulsion is typically provided by a Rotax 914 turbocharged four-cylinder engine in a rear pusher configuration, an efficient powerplant widely used on MALE-class UAVs. In family variants such as the Hermes 900 StarLiner, Elbit has emphasized full compliance with NATO’s STANAG 4671 airworthiness standard and civil airspace integration features, relevant attributes for Singapore’s dense airspace, even if not explicitly specified for the RSAF configuration.
The outgoing Hermes 450, introduced into RSAF service in the late 2000s and declared fully operational in 2015, is a smaller tactical ISR platform. MINDEF’s official fact sheet lists a 10.5-meter wingspan, endurance of more than 14 hours, a line of sight range of around 100 kilometers, a cruise near 70 knots and a payload tailored to EO/IR with laser designation. The airframe is powered by a UAV Engines Wankel R802 series rotary engine, reflecting its lighter tactical design. In simple terms, the H900 roughly doubles on-station time, carries more than twice the payload, ascends to higher altitudes and adds SATCOM control and multi-sensor carriage that the H450 could not match.
For a city-state with no strategic depth, Singapore’s security community has long described how the island’s compressed geography demands qualitative superiority, decision speed and persistent awareness rather than attritional mass. The Hermes 900’s endurance allows true round-the-clock urban and littoral overwatch with fewer sorties. A maritime radar plus EO/IR loadout can surveil the Singapore and Malacca Straits, track small craft through clutter, and provide identification before force is applied in dense shipping lanes. Wide area persistent surveillance like SkEye can stitch a real-time mosaic of multiple neighborhoods, enabling commanders to cue ground forces and police units while minimizing collateral risk. Airborne relay payloads extend secure networks across high-rise canyons, keeping joint communications alive if infrastructure is disrupted. These are precisely the attributes the SAF pursues as part of SAF2040’s push for a more connected, data-driven force.
The H900 will sit at the center of a Singaporean kill chain that links sensors to shooters across services. In peacetime, the same aircraft contribute to interdiction, search and rescue and humanitarian response without tying up manned ISR assets. In contingency, an H900 can detect, classify and identify a threat boat, designate it for naval or air fires, or hand off targeting-quality tracks to artillery, compressing the sensor-to-shooter timeline that matters in Singapore’s urban and littoral battlespace. The Jerusalem Post framed the selection in terms of advanced surveillance and potential strike roles seen in other operators; Singapore has not confirmed an armament plan, but the ability to carry designators and pass coordinates alone represents a significant lethality upgrade for joint fires.
The RSAF introduced the H450 to modernize ISR a decade ago and always faced finite growth headroom. Under SAF2040, renewal cycles are aligning aging fleets with digitally networked successors. While the service has not released numbers or a delivery schedule, it’s noted that aircraft will arrive “progressively,” suggesting a phased transition at squadron level, beginning with training and test acceptance while legacy airframes retire in tranches. This mirrors Singapore’s broader procurement ethos of steady investment to maintain a technological edge while avoiding capability gaps.
Singapore’s defense ecosystem routinely partners with trusted foreign suppliers while drawing on ST Engineering and DSO National Laboratories for integration and support. Elbit’s Hermes 900 family continues to win orders globally and has fielded configurations for maritime, homeland security and civil airspace integration, a trajectory that provides a broad payload and software roadmap for Singapore over the aircraft’s life. For a small but wealthy nation that must defend vital sea lanes and a globalized economy, buying into a mature, widely supported MALE ecosystem is a hedge against rapid technological change.
Moving from Hermes 450 to Hermes 900 is not a like-for-like swap but a leap from a tactical ISR drone to a multi-sensor, SATCOM-enabled node built for complex civil-military airspace. In a neighborhood where gray zone pressure at sea and dense urban terrain ashore converge on Singapore’s doorstep, the H900 delivers persistent eyes, connective tissue and targeting precision that fit the SAF’s core doctrine of seeing first, deciding first and acting precisely.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
