Royal Navy uncrewed aircraft trial marks European first
UK flight test sees largest unmanned aircraft take off from a Royal Navy aircraft carrier.
ECA Group has received a $11 million export contract for the delivery of three Inspector Mk2 Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) for mine countermeasures to an unnamed customer, it was announced on 12 July.
The first system will be delivered by the end of 2016 followed by two others in 2017 and 2018.
The Inspector Mk2 USV can be operated autonomously or remotely from a control station.
The USVs will be equipped with ECA’s Towed Side Scan Sonar (TOWSCA) subsea robotic system. TOWSCA can operate up to depths of 100m, gathering data and transmitting it to the control station in real time through the USV high data rate radio link.
The USVs will also be fitted with two SEASCANs each - an identification vehicle in the ECA Group Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) range. SEASCAN is deployed with a compact launch and recovery system (LARS) and can operate up to three hours in a range of 1,000m around the USV at depths of up to 300m.
UK flight test sees largest unmanned aircraft take off from a Royal Navy aircraft carrier.
CATIC have displayed its new AR-2000 drone at Dubai Airshow 2023, emphasising ship-based capabilities with PLA already purchasing.
Australia has ordered four Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton UAS which can operate as an uncrewed maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) alongside the country’s in-service Boeing P-8A MPA fleet.
The Khronos tethered UAS has been designed to be simple to use and has drawn on Elistair’s experience with hundreds of existing customers.
The use of long-duration Uncrewed Surface Vehicles for maritime surveillance and monitoring has become part of the fleet inventory as navies try to reduce the level of effort required to gather intelligence on areas of interest.
A growing number of uncrewed systems have been on show at Sydney's Indo-Pacific Maritime exhibition with a select few currently being trialled to see if they can enhance the Royal Australian Navy's surveillance levels.