• The goal of the Andøy Municipality project is a demonstration of VTOL UAS use in the Arctic.
Schiebel
    The goal of the Andøy Municipality project is a demonstration of VTOL UAS use in the Arctic. Schiebel
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Norway’s Andøya Test Centre, an Arctic weapons testing range, has selected Schiebel’s Camcopter S-100 Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS for extensive search and rescue trials as part of the Arctic 2030 project.

The S-100 offers a number of key advantages for naval operations in the Arctic, including the ability to fly at temperatures down to -40°C. This capability was successfully proven in a series of intensive trials in Canadian icebreaker operations 60 nautical miles north of Fogo Island, off the Newfoundland coast.

In a typical configuration, the S-100 operates six hours continuously and is able to simultaneously carry multiple payloads, delivering aerial views that reach considerably farther than manned helicopters.

The goal of the Andøy Municipality project is a demonstration of VTOL UAS use in the Arctic region in an effort to increase maritime safety. For this purpose, the S-100 will be equipped with an Electro-Optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera gimbal, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch payload, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver and a maritime broadband radio.

Tests are scheduled to commence in the northern autumn of 2019 with the UAS being deployed from Norwegian Coast Guard vessels in Andfjorden, northern Norway. More operations are planned in Spitsbergen in the northern spring of 2020.

“This is clearly an important milestone in the project,” Gunnar Jan Olsen, General Manager of the Andøya Test Centre, said. “We have already gained some experience with the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 UAS during an impressive demonstration in 2017.

“We believe that these current, more extensive S-100 trials will demonstrate that maritime safety in the Arctic can effectively be increased with the help of VTOL UAS.”

The S-100 is operated by RAN’s developmental 822X Squadron, one of four in the Fleet Air Arm.

In 2018, RAN also started ship-borne evaluations of two Camcopters powered by JP-5 kerosene-based fuel under Minor Project 1942. Those UAS are set to be replaced by September after their engines were unable to meet endurance requirements.

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