At the Ursel airfield, the Belgian Navy successfully completed the first training flights with the Skeldar V-200 unmanned helicopter from the Swedish defense company Saab. Swedish defense company Saab armaments company. The drone is intended to give the new mine countermeasure ships significantly enhanced capabilities for locating and neutralizing sea mines.
The Skeldar V-200 is an unmanned helicopter with a width of around 4.5 meters and a weight of around 250 kilograms. Depending on the payload, the system can stay in the air for up to four hours.
Key role in mine defense
“Thanks to the data link, we can carry out mine countermeasure operations with the Skeldar from a much greater distance,” explains Captain Kristof Van Belleghem, Chief of Staff of the Navy. “In addition, the system can also be used to detect drifting sea mines, which significantly increases the safety of the mother ship.” In future, mine countermeasure vehicles will be able to remain outside the actual minefield – a decisive safety gain for the crews.
The focus of the current training flights was initially on pure flight operations: learning the flight controls, building up the operators’ routine and obtaining the necessary flying hours. The system can be operated in three ways: Either manually with direct specification of course, speed and altitude, automatically along a pre-programmed route or by flying defined search and mission patterns.
Can be used from land and sea
The Skeldar V-200 is controlled and monitored via a Remote Pilot System (RPS). The first trials were carried out using the manufacturer’s control stations, but in future the Belgian armed forces will receive their own RPS systems. These are also available in container design so that the Skeldar can be deployed both from the sea and from land.
The current two Skeldar drones are to be expanded to a fleet of ten systems in the coming years. They are part of the modular drone toolbox of the new mine countermeasure ships, which can be configured differently depending on the mission and can be deployed from both sea and land. The first new mine countermeasure vessel, the M940 Oostende, recently arrived in Zeebrugge.
Binational cooperation as a driver of innovation
The integration of the Skeldar V-200 is not only a Belgian milestone, but also an example of the close Belgian-Dutch cooperation within the framework of the rMCM program (Replacement Mine Countermeasures). The aim of this binational project is to completely renew the mine countermeasures capabilities of both navies.
A total of twelve ships are being built – six for the Belgian Navy and six for the Royal Navy. All units are to be operational by 2030. The program was awarded to Belgium Naval & Robotics, a consortium of Naval Group and Exail, in 2019. The test flights in Ursel were carried out in close coordination with the Dutch Navy and represent an important step in the preparation of both navies for future mine countermeasures.
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