Camcopter in South African Navy trials
Schiebel has demonstrated the capabilities of its S-100 Camcopter UAS for the South African Navy during shipboard trials in False Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, the company announced on 27 October.
The trials, conducted between 20 and 23 October, were conducted from the deck of the SAS Protea, a Hecla class deepocean hydrographic survey vessel of the South African Navy. The navy is interested in the system as a maritime surveillance mission and anti-piracy asset.
According to the company, despite turbulent head and crosswinds beyond 25 knots, limited deck size and lack of a NATO landing grid providing a challenge to the trials, the S-100 successfully conducted automatic take-off and landings and all other required manoeuvres.
The S-100 carried the Selex ES SAGE Electronic Support Measure (ESM) payload during the demonstration. The payload gives the UAS the ability to detect, identify and geo-locate radio frequency sources while operating out to ranges of 200km or remaining on-station for periods of more than 6 hours.
The Camcopter S-100 is designed to persistently extend the ‘electronic eyes and ears’ of maritime commanders to operational ranges well beyond those of the sensors on board.
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