French DGA Tests Airbus VSR700 Unmanned Aerial
System at Sea
(16/05/23)
The French Armament
General Directorate (DGA) tested Airbus' unmanned aerial system (UAS)
VSR700 for the first time in an operational configuration from a
ship at sea.
Earlier this month, the VSR700 performed 80
fully autonomous take-offs and landings from a civil vessel
equipped with a helicopter deck, cruising off the coast of
Brittany in the west of France.
“This flight test campaign
was an important step for the VSR700 programme as it allowed us to
validate the excellent performance of the drone in operational
conditions, which were representative of its future missions,”
said Nicolas Delmas, Head of VSR700 programme at Airbus
Helicopters. “The VSR700 prototype opened its flight envelope in
winds above 40 knots, accumulated eight hours of testing in 14
flights, and made successful landings in several different sea
states.”
In 2022, the autonomous take-off and
landing capabilities of the VSR700 were tested from the same
vessel using an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) based on a
modified Guimbal Cabri G2 equipped with the autonomous take-off
and landing (ATOL) system developed for the VSR700.
This time, the
test campaign took place with the SDAM demonstrator and fully
validated the capabilities of the system as part of the SDAM (Système
de Drone Aérien pour la Marine) study that was awarded to Airbus
Helicopters and Naval Group in 2017.
Autonomous take-off
and landing capabilities are a key asset of the VSR700 and are
made possible with the use of the Airbus DeckFinder system that
enables autonomous launch and recovery of unmanned air vehicles
(UAVs) with an accuracy of 10-20cm during challenging operations
in harsh environmental conditions, independently of GNSS/GPS and
regardless of degraded visual conditions.
This latest test
campaign follows two series of trials that were conducted with the
DGA in late 2022 and early 2023 from the Levant Island test center
located in the south of France.
During those trials, the SDAM
prototype demonstrated its ability to operate in a maritime
environment. The handling qualities of the aircraft were tested as
well as the capabilities of the sensors (a maritime surveillance
radar, an electro optical sensor, and an AIS receiver) alongside
the mission system developed by Naval Group.
The next
development steps will see the second VSR700 prototype perform its
maiden flight ahead of flight testing onboard a French Navy FREMM
during the second semester of this year.
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