Austria's Schiebel reports that it has successfully demonstrated the heavy fuel variant of the Camcopter S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) as part of its customer acceptance programme with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Austria's Schiebel has successfully demonstrated the heavy fuel variant of the Camcopter S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) as part of its customer acceptance programme with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
The Camcopter was selected for the RAN's shipborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirement in December 2016. The selection came in response to Navy Minor Project (NMP) 1942 to procure a vertical takeoff and landing Maritime Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System – Interim Capability (MTUAS-IC).
The Camcopter S-100 has now successfully completed its flying programme for the RAN validation and verification customer acceptance programme at the Jervis Bay Airfield facilities in New South Wales, Australia.
The JP-5 (NATO F-44) heavy fuel-powered S-100, equipped with a Wescam MX-10S payload, demonstrated its ability to deliver imagery at operational ranges of up to 60 nautical miles as well as altitudes above 10,000 feet.
In a typical configuration, the Camcopter S-100 carries a 75lb/34kg payload up to 10 hours and is powered with AVGas or JP-5 heavy fuel.