Thales and Schiebel have demonstrate the maritime capabilities offered by CAMCOPTER S-100 uncrewed air system’s (UAS) integrated sensor suite during UK flight trials.

The UAS’ sensor set included Thales I-Master radar operating with maritime modes, the IAI POP ULTRA electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) sensor pod, identification, friend or foe (IFF) transceiver, and automatic identification system (AIS) receiver.

The trials, which took place off the North Wales coast, demonstrated how a ship can benefit from the intelligence collected during an extended operating range in a maritime/littoral operation.

The CarteNav AIMS Mission System was used to integrate the sensor suite data to provide wide area radar coverage.

Thales noted that intelligence was delivered into the Thales TACTICOS Combat Mission System through a Digital Supervisor/OARIS bridge to complete the trial.

This proved data integration and CMS level tasking of the S-100 platform.

Schiebel Business Development global head Neil Hunter said: “Our S-100 is a proven capability and is in service with a number of navy’s around the world.

“We have extensive experience flying off ship decks, not just alongside but at sea in demanding wind and sea state.

“The sensor suite we have demonstrated in the UK shows the S-100 flexibility to work with a range of sensor types, and in this configuration, we believe meets a lot of emerging navy requirements.”

Last month, Schiebel successfully completed flight trials of Camcopter S-100 UAS for the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The Camcopter S-100 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAS operates day and night and can perform in all weather conditions.

The platform has, so far, supported many naval customers and completed missions on more than 40 ships.

It can be used for a variety of operations, such as search and rescue, tactical maritime missions, and overwatch.