Schiebel's CAMCOPTER® S-100 has taken a further step in consolidating its strong maritime position by being the first UAS (Unmanned Air System) to ever fly from an Italian Navy ship.

The S-100 was flown from the ITS Bersagliere, a Soldati Class frigate and successfully carried out a number of missions for observers from the Italian Navy.

From the Italian Navy Base of La Spezia a number of scenarios were flown and the CAMCOPTER® S-100 performed flawlessly in sea states three to four and with wind speeds of up to 25 kts. The payload of choice was a Wescam MX-10 camera, transmitting high definition images in real-time to the control station during the 4.5 hours of flight time.

Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, said: “This was a very proud day for the CAMCOPTER® S-100 and Schiebel as a whole. To become the very first UAS to ever operate from an Italian Navy ship is an honor that we do not take lightly and we are delighted to have had this opportunity. Our thanks goes the Italian Navy General Staff and Fleet Command for helping to make this possible, along with, of course, the Commanding Officer of ITS Bersagliere.”

“The feedback we have had has been extremely positive and we look forward to assisting the Italian Navy in whatever way we can in the future. The increase in operational capability that the S-100 brings to maritime operations serves to make a very real and tangible difference to a ship's capabilities in a number of ways and we are pleased to offer this flexibility,” he added.

Including the Italian ship, the S-100 has successfully proved its maritime surveillance capability on 14 different classes of vessels so far in three oceans. To date, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 has operated on both military and civilian vessels at relative wind speeds of up to 40 kts and consequently its maritime capability has been successfully proved to various navies worldwide.