On 4th October 2007 Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 UAV System successfully completed a series of flights from an Offshore Patrol Vessel of the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea. Another big step has been taken in the growth of Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 Unmanned Air System into new roles. Beginning of October the unmanned helicopter S-100 demonstrated its shipboard capability, completing flights from a ship’s helipad in the Arabian Sea, for the Indian Navy based in Cochin, Kerala (South India). Takeoffs from the deck were done both manually and autonomously. Landings generally were flown autonomously to a waypoint relative to the ship at a distance of about 50 feet above and 100 feet behind the helipad and from this waypoint the final approach and landing were executed.

The weather conditions allowed takeoffs and landings at ship speeds between 8 kts and 16 kts with wind from northwest at up to 20 kts at light to moderate sea states. The longest flight was two hours, demonstrating the CAMCOPTER® S-100´s capability to conduct reconnaissance at 12.000 ft altitude at 25 nm distance from the moving ship. The payloads installed onboard the CAMCOPTER S-100 were an electro optical gimbal and the fixed camera in the nose which sent simultaneously video to the payload workstation. Other sensor payloads that are typically required for operational scenarios are available too, including SAR systems.

The Ground Control Station of the CAMCOPTER S-100 UAS was installed inside the ship’s hangar with the link antennas set up at the structures on top of the hangar. An IMU (Inertial Measuring Unit) for sensing the ship movements for automatic landing and the GPS reference antenna were positioned next to the helipad.

The activity has been organized and executed in close cooperation with Vectra Aviation, a premier offshore helicopter service provider and Schiebel’s partner in India.

The Aerial Vehicle is launched automatically via Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL), eliminating the need for a prepared area or additional launch and recovery equipment. It navigates via pre-programmed GPS waypoints, or can be operated manually through a simple, yet highly stable, flight control system. The S-100, like its predecessor, is capable of landing on helicopter deckequipped ships without the use of additional landing equipment. Its AV fuselage is a carbon fibre monocoque providing maximum capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations. In a standard configuration, the AV is capable of carrying 50 kg payloads and to loiter for up to 6 hours.