Camcopter S-100 growing experience sea board on L´Adroit
Since the OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) L´Adroit was officially made available to the French Navy in October 2011, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) was able to prove its highly efficient maritime capability repeatedly.
The Gowind Class L’Adroit, build by DCNS, has been designed to operate, amongst other capabilities, a UAS, and by installing the appropriate cabling and supporting equipment during build, has been fitted out to operate the maritime proven CAMCOPTER® S-100 from day one. The French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) purchased a S-100 and qualified its integration aboard L’Adroit in the frame of an experimentation ordered by the French Navy.
At the moment the French Navy is the only European Navy capable of operating a UAS VTOL from a surface ship. Embarked on board the OPV L’Adroit, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 has been operating in the Indian Ocean and Asia. Thanks to S-100, the French Navy has been able to evaluate the contribution of UAS during missions assigned to L’Adroit (preventing illegal practices at sea like terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal fishing and illegal immigration, ensuring maritime safety). Over 120 flight hours and 190 take-offs were conducted since the beginning of 2012, with much more to come in the next two years.
The tight integration achieved by DCNS between the ship and the S-100 provides highquality information, alerts and decision aids at any time. This project is unique in Europe and helps the French Navy to understand the movements and actions by potential threats at sea, expanding the area of influence and providing high-definition observation and surveillance in real-time.
Schiebel has taken the experience and knowledge gained from this exciting opportunity of operating the CAMCOPTER®S-100 from OPV L’Adroit, and is now working with world class sensor manufacturers to integrate maritime radar, Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and EO/IR sensors into the S-100 system. This will for the first time, provide maritime commanders with an organic, persistent, ISR capability unparalleled for a UAS in this class.
