Madrid, 18th April 2008 – Only weeks after the successful trials on Frigates, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 continued to prove its naval capabilities on 14th April south of Gran Canaria from a vessel of the Spanish Guardia Civil. The CAMCOPTER® S-100 demonstrated its outstanding capabilities as well as its naval versatility for the first time from a small vessel. The Rio Miño of the Spanish Guardia Civil is only 51 meters long, has a gross weight of 605 tons and is based in the harbour of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. Having been converted from a tuna trawler into one of the largest patrol vessels of the Guardia Civil, its mission is to patrol the coasts of the Canary Islands and nearby Africa.

The Rio Miño’s small helicopter deck at the stern is intended for emergency use by manned helicopters only. It is 10,5 by 8,5 meters in size and has no NATO landing grid that would allow the use of the S-100’s harpoon decking aid. This very limited size of the helicopter deck in combination with the ship’s sharp movements presented a new challenge in the operation of the CAMCOPTER® S-100. With the control station installed on the ship’s bridge, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 took off for a one-hour flight over the Atlantic and continuously provided reconnaissance data to the crew and spectators.

The CAMCOPTER® S-100 was equipped with a day/night-capable EOIR gimbal. While in infrared mode, it allowed detection of other vessels such as a Frigate of the Spanish Navy at distances of up to a few ten nautical miles away from the aircraft and subsequent approach and inspection in daylight mode.

Landings generally are conducted autonomously to a relative waypoint above the landing deck at the stern of the vessel. There the S-100 showed its unique capability to hover close above the heli deck and automatically follow the ship’s movements, with a subsequent smooth touch down.

The demonstration has been conducted in close cooperation and with the support of the Spanish Guardia Civil and Schiebel’s local partner in Spain, the Paukner Group.

About Schiebel
Founded in 1951, the Vienna-based Schiebel Group of companies focuses on the development, testing and production of state-of-the-art mine detection equipment and the acclaimed CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System. Schiebel has built an international reputation for producing quality defence and humanitarian products, which are backed by exceptional after-sales service and support. All products are quality controlled to meet ISO 9001 standards. With headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Schiebel now maintains production facilities in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, and Abu Dhabi, UAE, as well as offices in Warrenton, VA, USA, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

About Paukner Group
Anton Paukner started his activities as ship agent and broker with offices in Madrid, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1949 and expanded into the field of industrial representations two years later. Soon after Anton Paukner turned his personal activities into a company that was involved as industrial representative for foreign companies in the field of defence and security industry, railway industry as well as in activities in the area of maritime transport. Due to the market knowledge and the experience of its team, this company APSA is today a well recognized and qualified business partner as operation platform to represent the interests of international companies in Spain, Portugal and Latin America through joint ventures or cooperation with Spanish or Portuguese companies. Nowadays Paukner is shareholder of Electroop, first-level subcontractor for stabilisation systems for the turret of the MBT Leopard 2E, Interdef (Portugal), Paukner Marítima and OPDR Canarias.

About the CAMCOPTER® S-100
Schiebel’s latest CAMCOPTER® S-100 UAV System has been developed to carry various sensors for both military and civilian applications. The Aerial Vehicle is launched automatically via Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL), eliminating the need for a prepared area or additional launch and recovery equipment. It navigates via pre-programmed GPS waypoints, or can be operated manually through a simple, yet highly stable, flight control system. The S-100, like its predecessor, is capable of landing on helicopter deckequipped ships without the use of additional landing equipment. Its AV fuselage is a carbon fibre monocoque providing maximum capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations. In a standard configuration, the AV is capable of carrying a 55 lbs payload for up to 6 hours.

Source: Schiebel Elektronische Geraete GmbH
Pictures provided and copyrighted by Schiebel Elektronische Geraete GmbH
For further information about Schiebel Elektronische Geraete GmbH, click here