Schiebel took part in the large-scale NATO-supported exercise “Repmus 2024” (“Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems”), which was organized by the Portuguese Navy, for the third time in a row.
Sponsored by the British Royal Navy and in collaboration with Thales, the S-100 flew several missions during the three-week exercise and, according to the company, impressed with its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities as well as its anti-submarine warfare (ASW), mine countermeasures (MCM) and rapid environmental assessment (REA) solutions. This involved the deployment of sonobuoys and data transmission (ASW).
At last year’s “Repmus, Schiebel demonstrated the sonobuoy dispenser of the S-100 (-> report from the second participation in 2023), which successfully air-dropped four G-size sonobuoys to form a small ASW barrier. This year, in addition to the four G sonobuoys, the UAS also dropped and deployed the more powerful A sonobuoys. A second S-100 configured with Thales Blue Tracker buoy processing then transmitted the signals from the sonobuoys to the ground station in real time, providing a crucial range extension. The mission was planned and monitored using the Thales M-Cube Mission Management System, with Blue Tracker acoustically processing the signals received and then relaying the underwater targets to the Combat Management System. Subsequently, the mine divers were tasked to complete the identification of the mines detected by the UAS. An integrated end-to-end capability for ASW operations.
Schiebel has equipped the Camcopter S-100 with the LiDARs VQ-860-G and VUX-120 from the Austrian company Riegl, so that the system can scan the training waters for both floating mines and anchored mines. The laser scanners enable simultaneous bathymetric and topographic mapping underwater, on the surface and along coastlines, “which makes the S-100 the perfect device for detecting sea mines (for MCM) and for supporting amphibious operations (for REA)”, as Schiebel states in a recent press release.
“Maritime warfare with the help of UAS is becoming increasingly important for navies around the world. The use of state-of-the-art technology combined with a proven unmanned device provides an end-to-end solution for ASW that saves valuable time and significantly reduces risk,” said Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group. “With our more than 20 years of operational experience, particularly in the harsh maritime environment where we fly from ships, and the exceptional technical specifications of the S-100, it is the ideal UAS to showcase the latest unmanned flight capabilities at ‘Repmus’.”
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