Design and configuration
A long straight wing sits above a central equipment fuselage. The pusher propeller, V-tail and retractable wheels form the basic external layout.1
FORCETALLY
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Drones & UAVsIn serviceProfile in progress
The Hermes 900 is a long-endurance unmanned platform for reconnaissance and surveillance. Its payload capacity and mission bay distinguish it from the smaller Hermes 450.
IsraelTechnical data
The system in detail
A long straight wing sits above a central equipment fuselage. The pusher propeller, V-tail and retractable wheels form the basic external layout.1
Available sensors address land and maritime tasks. Customer-specific communication and intelligence equipment determine the delivered mission configuration.1
This profile concerns Hermes 900. StarLiner certification features and national equipment changes are not automatically included in the baseline record.1
An aircraft comparison must account for payload, airspace certification and ground infrastructure. Endurance alone does not describe the sensor coverage or useful information output.1
Visual reference
Unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle
Israel
Elbit Systems Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems
In service
Israeli Air Force Philippine Air Force Swiss Air Force
May 2010
December 9, 2009
Elbit Hermes 450
2 on ground
350 kg (770 lb) payload
8.3 m (27 ft 3 in)
15 m (49 ft 3 in)
1,180 kg (2,601 lb)
1 × Rotax 916 , 160 kW (210 hp)
220 km/h (140 mph, 120 kn)
112 km/h (70 mph, 60 kn)
36 hours
9,100 m (30,000 ft)
Azerbaijan
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
European Union
India
Iceland
Israel
Mexico
Philippines
Serbia
Singapore
Switzerland
Thailand
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Elbit Systems Hermes-900 UAV takeoff Historical equipment reference photograph. It does not establish current availability or every detail of the named variant.
Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source ↗ · ModifiedHermes 900 equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
AzerbaijanState Border Service exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Medium. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
BrazilAir Force exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Medium. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
CanadaNumber column of the Wikipedia list table under "Fixed-wing deployment". The list's own wording applies; it is a compiled secondary source, not an official census.
ChileNumber column of the Wikipedia list table under "UAV". The list's own wording applies; it is a compiled secondary source, not an official census.
ColombiaAir Force exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Medium. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Iceland
IndiaNaval Aviation exact named equipment holdings: Drishti-10. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Medium. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Israel
MexicoAir Force exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / None. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
MoroccoAir Force exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Medium. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
PhilippinesAir Force exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
SerbiaReported count for Elbit Hermes · Hermes 900. Service scope: Serbian Air Force and Air Defence; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Retired, wholly reserve and on-order rows are excluded; the reported count retains any explicitly mixed stock scope in the quoted row. Count column(s): in service: 3. Origin: Israel. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. Dates are the count-cell citations' stated source period (2025), not the article revision. Cited source 2025-01-06. Edition or publication years do not claim an exact inventory census day.
Singapore
SwitzerlandAir Force exact named equipment holdings: Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
ThailandIsraeli Air Force Philippine Air Force Swiss Air Force
Equipment reference ↗Army exact named equipment holdings: Drishti-10. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Medium. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.
Reported count for Elbit Hermes 900 · Drishti-10. Service scope: Army Aviation Corps; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Retired, wholly reserve and on-order rows are excluded; the reported count retains any explicitly mixed stock scope in the quoted row. Count column(s): in service: 1. Origin: Israel / India. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. Dates are the count-cell citations' stated source period (2024), not the article revision. Cited source 2024-12-04. Edition or publication years do not claim an exact inventory census day.
Reported count for Elbit Hermes 900 · Drishti-10. Service scope: Naval Air Arm; does not replace a national total. 1 distinct count cell(s) from the same source list; shared rowspan cells counted once. Excludes retired/reserve/on-order rows. Count column(s): in service: 1. Origin: Israel / India. The listed variants/roles are the scope, not an immediately deployable count. The components do not establish one inventory census date; the stored date is the retrieved source snapshot.
Air Force holdings of the exact named Hermes 900 component: active, reserve operational and training units, excluding equipment in store. This is a service-scoped observation, not a national total or combat-readiness count. No parent-design, sibling-variant, heading aggregate or mounted-weapon total is inherited.
Air Force holdings of the exact named Hermes 900 component: active, reserve operational and training units, excluding equipment in store. This is a service-scoped observation, not a national total or combat-readiness count. No parent-design, sibling-variant, heading aggregate or mounted-weapon total is inherited.
Air Force exact named equipment holdings of Hermes 900. Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only, not a national or parent-force total or combat-readiness measure. Source role(s): UNINHABITED AERIAL VEHICLES / Heavy. No heading aggregate, carried armament, crew, payload, factory production or future order count inherited. The source declares a separate Air Force subsection within Armed Forces.