Austria’s Schiebel has delivered the first of 80 Camcopter S-100 vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicles to launch customer the United Arab Emirates.
South-East Asia sales manager Keith Carroll says the UAE government is putting the first aircraft through acceptance tests and plans to place it into service in January. The UAE has acquired 40 systems, which includes 80 aircraft, for civil and military tactical UAV missions.
Schiebel is in talks with potential civil operators in India and the Singapore government. Singapore is interested in operating the S-100 from ships and Schiebel plans to hold ship trials in Singapore at the end of February after the Asian Aerospace 2006 air show.
The S-100 is being marketed as a multi-role compact helicopter UAV able to meet surveillance, anti-piracy and anti-submarine missions for navies. The UAV can also be used for battlefield surveillance, over-the-hill reconnaissance, target acquisition and other missions.
Source: Flight International
