Risk reduction flight tests for integrating Thales and Elisra's NATO STANAG 7085 data link on an unmanned aerial vehicle have been conducted in Israel.

The tests by Thales and Israel Aerospace Industries involved the Israeli company's Heron medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, and Thales' new TMA 6000 data link terminal with Elisra Radio Frequency Modules and antennas.

During the testing infrared and daylight videos were transmitted in real time to the ground control station, and the sensors were controlled in real time from the ground.

Thales' TMA 6000 complies with NATO Standardization Agreement -- or STANAG -- 7085, the waveform standard for transmission of videos, images and other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data from onboard sensors to dedicated ISR stations to ensure NATO interoperability and high resistance to jamming and interception.

Additional details of the risk reduction testing were not disclosed.

The Heron UAV has an endurance time of as much as 45 hours. Different variants of the aircraft are operated by more than 15 nations, including Israel, Australia, Canada, France and Germany.