Philippine Army finally unofficially unveils their “Mysterious” and Secretive Thor Drones

Philippine Army finally unofficially unveils their “Mysterious” and Secretive Thor Multi-Purpose Drones bought from Israel

The Philippine Army (PA) seems to have finally and unofficially unveiled their mysterious and secretive Thor Drones in some of the first Pictures of them using it in Public during the recent "Sanay Punglo III" Exercise at the Colonel Ernesto Ravina Air Base (CERAB) in Capas, Tarlac.

The Exercise brought the Attack and Surveillance Assets of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and PA to Train and learn to coordinate with each Other to optimize the use of these Assets during Combat. According to its Brochure, the Thor weighs 25 kg and can be carried on a Backpack, and deployed for use in just two minutes.

It has a range of up to 15 kilometers, speed of up to 45 kilometers per hour, can reach an altitude of up 3,650 meters and has a Flight Endurance of around 70 minutes with a Camera Payload. It can also carry various Payloads of up to 13 kilograms, which includes Surveillance Equipment, Laser Designating Devices, Supplies and even up to six Grenades for Combat.

The Contract for more than a thousand of these Drones was signed back in 2019 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, and were to be delivered by 2021. The Philippine Government back then made these such a secret that Elbit did not even name the Philippines as the Country they were supplying these to, this was only revealed gradually over the Years since then.

The Drone's Manufacturer, "Elbit Systems", calls the Thor as a "Military Tactical Mini Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)".

MY THOUGHTS:
The over a thousand Units of the Thor Drones I think is enough to equip our Troops at Company Level, meaning each Company can have at least one if evenly distributed. It looks like the PA has been training and using these Drones for no more than four Years now.

I am not so sure why the PA is so secretive about these Drones, but so far in Terms of the Results, its overall impact on the Battlefield against the New People’s Army (NPA) seems to be only limited because up to now, the NPAs haven’t given up yet, so it hasn’t been a “War-winning” Equipment or Weapon yet for now.

The latest PA Picture only shows it with Surveillance Equipment, so it's hard to determine if the PA has been using it for other Missions it is capable of as well. If the PA uses its full Capability, then it means they can attack Enemy Forces with Grenades too, if they want to.

It also means that they can designate Targets for the Air Force to use Laser-guided Weapons, and if the PA buys Laser-guided Mortar and Howitzer Ammo, then these Drones can designate Targets for those as well. The Thor can also carry Supplies if needed, although its Payload is limited to only 13 kilos.

SOURCES:
* https://web.facebook.com/ACCPAF/posts/pfbid02bp2s2XhRekWYsPwbV6R4jReCvH42AoY7WMaXvQXsJnuKMoCZmwPhGPnh9qf46Vrkl
* https://www.elbitsystems.com/news/elbit-systems-awarded-153-million-contract-provide-networked-multi-layered-uas-array-army

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