The Royal Navy has made public a request for information to study the too heavy heavy transport UAV solutions that can be used in a maritime environment.
UAV for the Royal Navy
A request for information has been published for the Royal Navy to study the market for heavy transport UAVs that can be deployed in a saline environment. The responses from this study will add to the Royal Navy’s knowledge and could potentially lead to an acquisition decision at later.
Performance
In order to be able to study systems capable of meeting its operational requirements, the Royal Navy has provided some details on expected performance. The UAV will have to be capable of carrying a 200 kg payload and be able to conduct flights beyond the field of vision. It will have to be resistant to the salty, highly corrosive environment, and have an open architecture so it can be easily modified.
French Navy
For its part, the French Navy is also continuing its shift towards UAV. After acquiring the Camcopter S -100, the study of solutions for coastal surveillance is also underway. The Navy could thus choose to turn to the Patroller or the Eurodrone, two very different systems, both in terms of performance and level of maturity. These systems will complement the Falcon 2000 LXS Albatros. The choice of architecture should be made in the course of the year 2022.