Vienna, Rostov-on-Don, 30 June 2011 OAO Gorizont (Russia) and Schiebel(Austria) have joined forces to deliver an Unmanned Air System (UAS) in Russia based on the famous and proven S-100 unmanned helicopter. One UAS will be soon in operational use for a government customer.
The focus for the collaboration is the civil UAS market in Russia and the opportunities forthis helicopter drone are extensive over the next few years, ranging from agricultural, wildlife and forestry surveillance to the monitoring and inspection of specific structures, such as nuclear power plants, hydroelectric facilities, spaceports and pipelines. On a wider and more federal front, by being able to provide real time and highly accurateinformation to the user on the ground, it is ideally suited to major applications such asland and maritime border control and enforcement.
A VTOL UAS adds unique flexibility to operations and delivers capability that mannedhelicopters, airplanes, and even fixed-wing UAVs cannot offer. Its long endurance, smalllogistic footprint and very low operating costs, as well as the ability to hover for extendedperiods of time, whilst providing operators with extensive fields of view by both day andnight, make it the ideal platform for a wide range of operations.
We have been working in the area surveillance and security for many years and are very pleased to now include and use the proven S-100 to the benefit of our customers.Applications for the drone are many in both the military and civilian fields. This ventureoffers new opportunities for the benefit of both our companies. said Igor Khokhlov, JSCGorizont General Director.
As Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group commented I am excited bythis unified approach; both companies share a vision for creating and supporting thelatest and most versatile technology and products to ensure that our customers get thebest capability available on the market today.
