Category Archives: ISR

Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance

CAMCOPTER® S-100 AGAIN SUPPORTS MOAS (MIGRANT OFFSHORE AID STATION) REFUGEE RESCUE MISSIONS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

June 7, 2016 Philip

Malta, 7 June 2016 – After the successful 2014 and 2015 operations, Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 continues its substantial support of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), a global search-and-rescue charity organization.

For the third time MOAS and Schiebel will join forces in order to help refugees in distress at sea. In their concerted rescue operations over the past two years more than ten thousand men, women and children could be saved from a drowning death on their way from North Africa to the shores of Europe. The impressive success of this humanitarian mission, to a large extent, is owed to the support of Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100.
Besides its takeoff and landing capability on the 40-meter-long MOAS ship MY Phoenix, the S-100 provides real-time daylight and infrared video which enables the MOAS crew to precisely locate and rescue persons in emergency situations and provide them with medical aid from their ship-borne station. Especially over long distances beyond horizon, in rough sea conditions and at night, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System significantly increases chances to find and identify small ships, thus saving the lives of thousands of migrants.

Due to the rising number of asylum-seekers expected to cross the Mediterranean in the upcoming summer months, the privately-financed non-profit MOAS organization has just revived its successful rescue project for 2016. The MY Phoenix set sail departing from Valetta, Malta, yesterday and, once again, the Schiebel CAMCOPTER® S-100 is onboard. As the ideal choice for search and rescue in the maritime environment and particularly suited for single-spot vessels, Schiebel’s S-100 will continue to play a fundamental role in the mission. Hans-Georg Schiebel, owner of the company, emphasizes: “We are very happy about our long-term cooperation with MOAS. Our CAMCOPTER® S-100 is a perfect fit for this mission, as it widens the view of the crew onboard and enables them to locate migrants in distress even well beyond the horizon.”

Proud to be part of this extraordinary engagement, Schiebel provides MOAS with a CAMCOPTER® S-100 system, as well as with an experienced team of onboard operators.

Source: Schiebel

More information: MOAS

ISR

Army special operations want multi-intelligence UAVs

January 20, 2016 Editor

By, Jen Judson, Defense News

WASHINGTON — Army aviation special operators want new unmanned aircraft systems that can carry multiple sensors to collect vital intelligence from the battlefield and they’re working with the Army to achieve the capability, Brig. Gen. Erik Peterson, the Army Special Operations Aviation Command commander, said Thursday.

Peterson, speaking at the Association of the US Army’s aviation symposium in Arlington, Virginia, described the state of the fleet of special operations UAS as a “dog breakfast” of more than 300 air vehicles beyond the standard Army UAS.

Organic to the command is one company of MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS platoons. Gray Eagle is the largest Army unmanned system in the fleet. These special operations platoons of four UAS each are and will be continuously deployed until at least fiscal year 2017.

Then special operations has smaller UAS such as the Raven, which is an Army program of record, but it also has several non-programs of record systems quickly procured in response to joint urgent operational needs statements and other various requests.

Listed on a slide shown during Peterson’s presentation, Army special operations has oversight of 12 Gray Eagles, 32 Shadows, 224 Ravens, seven Pumas, 15 Arrowlites, 40 Instant Eyes, two Silver Foxes and one Maveric. The last four UAS are not Army programs of record.

The UAS are “very valuable,” Peterson said, “but obviously present challenges when they are not programs of record.”

Given the petting zoo of UAS that Army special operators are using, a multi-intelligence UAS would be ideal in the future; one UAS carrying multiple kinds of sensors with different capabilities.

Special operators “need a true multi-int capability in group IV systems and we are working with both the Army and Special Operations Command to achieve that capability,” Peterson said. Group IV UAS consist of larger UAS like the Gray Eagle. On another presentation slide, the desire for multi-intelligence UAS extends to the smaller Group III category in which Shadow UAS fit as well.

Courtesy C4ISR & Networks

Army UAS wish list: Lighter, deadlier, survivable

ISR

US Army, New Drones will be VTOL

January 18, 2016 Editor

US Army Chief looks for VTOL UAS for the future US Army requirement.

In his conference remarks, Lundy said that when the Army does buy or develop new drones, a key requirement should be the ability to take off and land without a runway.

“I don’t want to be on runways anymore” Lundy said. A future drone in the same class as the Gray Eagle, he said, “needs to have a VTOL capability. We’ve got to be able to push it forward with units. It can’t be sitting at an airfield four hours away.” He also listed two other key requirements: “It’s got to be survivable, so we’ve go to reduce the signature. And we’ve got to reduce how many people it takes to run it.” A future Gray Eagle replacement, he added, would need to carry similar payloads and have similar range. “I’m not real concerned about the speed,” Lundy said. “Those are the key requirements – both for our large UAS and for our tactical.”

See full Article

ISR

US Air Force Proposes $3-billion RPAS Expansion Plan

December 15, 2015 Editor

The US Air Force wants to vastly expand its drone program over the next five years by doubling the number of pilots and deploying them to bases in California and elsewhere to give commanders better intelligence and more firepower.

The $3-billion plan, which must be approved by Congress, was unveiled Thursday after months of study that focused on a drone pilot force that commanders have described as overworked, undermanned and under appreciated.

The proposed expansion comes as the Pentagon has intensified airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. Pilots and crews who operate the MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers have struggled to meet a rising demand for aerial surveillance of war zones and other hot spots.

“Right now, 100% of the time, when a MQ-1 or MQ-9 crew goes in, all they do is combat,” said Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, which oversees drone operations. “So we really have to build the capacity.”

The Air Force wants to add 75 Reapers to the current fleet of 175 Reapers and 150 Predators. It also would increase the number of flying squadrons from eight to as many as 17, and add up to 3,500 new pilots, sensor operators and other personnel.

Officials said they anticipate sending most of the new drone pilots and crews to bases across the country.

Courtesy UAS Vision

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, Commercial UAS Application, Humanitarian UAV, ISR, UAS Agriculture

UK-Singapore Collaboration Prepares for Record 300km Hydrogen Fuel Cell UAV Flight

September 2, 2015 Editor

A new civilian fuel cell UAV designed for search and rescue is gearing up for the world’s first ever 300km UAV flight to cross the North Sea, linking Scotland to Norway

Set to take off within days, this historic flight is the result of a joint effort between UAV fuel cell power systems supplier Horizon Energy Systems (HES) of Singapore, and Scottish UAV developer RaptorUAS. The team is working with Northern Colorado Search and Rescue in the US, as a first end-user of the long endurance UAV system.

The Singapore-built fuel cell is able to keep the Raptor E1 UAV flying for over 12 hours, which makes it an ideal support tool in difficult search and rescue operations over large areas of sea or land. Recognized as the world’s longest endurance energy storage systems for electrical UAVs, fuel cells from HES have helped set new world records in the past including the NASA-backed 5kg Pterosoar UAVsystem which flew 128km in 2007.

Courtesy: SUAS News

Beyond Line of Sight UAS, ISR

SCHIEBEL CAMCOPTER® S-100 SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATES MULTI-SENSOR CAPABILITY TO THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

June 16, 2015 Editor

Vienna / Nowra, 16 June 2015 – Schiebel´s CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) has in a series of flights between 2 and 12 June 2015 successfully demonstrated its multi- sensor capability to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and other Australian Government Departments.

The demanding trials took place near Nowra, on the South East Coast of Australia, and encompassed multiple scenarios, performed during both the day and night. The primary goal was to provide RAN with a comprehensive understanding of how an advanced rotary wing UAS could be effectively used to support maritime and littoral Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) tasks.

The three key mission payloads; the Finmeccanica – Selex ES SAGE ESM and PicoSAR radar and the L-3 Wescam MX-10 were operated in realistic maritime security scenarios in the littoral and open ocean.

Hans Georg Schiebel Chairman of Schiebel said „This multi-sensor capability of the S-100 is a key element, showing the comprehensive flexibility of our proven system. We feel honored that we were invited by RAN to this demonstration.”

Selex ES highlighted how the combination of the CAMCOPTER® S-100 with their SAGE ESM and PicoSAR radar can extend the surveillance horizon of naval vessels and enhance situational awareness. The data provided by the ESM and radar sensors is
crucial to understanding the maritime environment, which was proven in demanding conditions throughout the demonstration.
The CAMCOPTER® S-100 is the only UAS in its class that is able to carry multiple sensors combined, enabling customers to gather images with an EO/IR camera, to detect and to identify electronic signatures with a ESM antenna and to use a Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR) in real-time with only one system.

Additionally the demonstration allowed RAN personnel to study the pre-flight, operation and post-flight procedures of the CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAS.

Source: Schiebel Press Release.

ISR, Unmanned Systems

SCHIEBEL CAMCOPTER® S-100 – COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT TESTS IN GPS DENIED ENVIRONMENT

July 6, 2013 Editor

Schiebel has successfully concluded a series of flight trials with EADS Astrium’s Pseudolite-based Local Positioning System “DeckFinder”, expanding its automated launch and recovery capability for operatiosn where access to GPS has been denied.

Schiebel integrated the DeckFinder Receiver Segment into a CAMCOPTER® S-100 and deployed the DeckFinder Ground Segment at the Schiebel Testing Grounds close to Vienna, Austria, earlier this year, enabling a joint team to conduct a week-long flight campaign with the goal of testing and evaluating the capabilities that DeckFinder adds in terms of highly accurate automated operations.

“By feeding the position data generated by the Astrium DeckFinder System directly into the avionics of our CAMCOPTER® S-100, we are now able to operate fully automatically, independent from Global Positioning Systems (GPS) during hovering, approach and landing, enabling us to launch and recover in environments that no-one has been able to perform before”, Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, explains.

DeckFinder is a Local Positioning System consisting of a ground segment of six Radio-Frequency-based Transmitters (Pseudolites) and a corresponding airborne receiver. Based on GPS-independent range measurements it provides the CAMCOPTER® avionics with highly accurate and relative 3D position information that allows the S-100 to
navigate with an accuracy better than 20 cm over the landing zone, placing Schiebel’s customers in a unique position to operate the CAMCOPTER® with high degrees of autonomy during periods of GPS denial from small vessel decks under demanding environmental conditions, a scenario that we see increasing in the future.

About the CAMCOPTER® S-100:

Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) is a proven capability for military and
civilian applications. The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS needs no prepared area or supporting
launch or recovery equipment. It operates in day and night, under adverse weather conditions, with a
beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km, both on land and at sea. The S-100 navigates via preprogrammed
GPS waypoints or is operated with a pilot control unit. Missions are planned and controlled via
a simple point-and-click graphical user interface. High definition payload imagery is transmitted to the
control station in real time. Using “fly-by-wire” technology controlled by a triple-redundant flight computer,
the UAV can complete its mission automatically. Its carbon fiber and titanium fuselage provides capacity for
a wide range of payload/endurance combinations up to a service ceiling of 18,000 ft. In its standard
configuration, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 carries a 75 lbs/34 kg payload up to 10 hours and is powered with
AVGas or heavy fuel.

See more at Schiebel

Unmanned Systems Australia, is the authorised distributor and on-seller of the Schiebel S-100 CAMCOPTER UAS in Australia. Unmanned Systems Australia provides Consulting and Training Services in the area of unmanned aerial systems as well as unattended and remotely monitored ground sensors, target acquisition systems and surveillance devices. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Unmanned Systems Australia capitalizes on over 24 years experience in the employment of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems.

See more at www.unmannedsystemsaustralia.com.au