14:36 GMT, April 15, 2008 VIENNA, Austria | On 16th March the CAMCOPTER S-100 UAV System successfully completed flights from a Type 21 Frigate of the Pakistan Navy in the Arabian Sea.

As part of a series of shipboard flight tests, Schiebel’s unmanned VTOL UAV System CAMCOPTER S-100 recently again demonstrated its unrivalled shipboard launch and recovery capabilities from a Pakistan Navy Frigate.

Launch was made from the heli deck of the Type 21 Frigate at the designated trial site off the coast of Karachi. Equipped with a day/night-capable EOIR gimbal, the S-100's takeoffs were done both manually and autonomously from the deck. Landings generally are flown autonomously to a waypoint relative to the ship and at a distance of about 50 feet above and 100 feet behind the ship’s heli deck. From this waypoint the final approach and landings were executed.

The weather conditions allowed takeoffs and landings at a maximum ship speed of 13 knots and the Frigate’s speed at no time less than 10 knots, with wind from West-Southwest at up to 15 knots at moderate Sea State.

After a first system check day flight, a 4-hour mission was carried out where the CAMCOPTER S-100 took off from the ship's heli deck by day and landed at night. The tests were concluded by another night flight with a total flight time that day of about 6 hours at a maximum altitude of 6000 ft.

During all flights, the CAMCOPTER S-100 successfully completed all given reconnaissance tasks, which included location of objects at sea and at land. The exact location of the detected objects and their characteristics were also successfully communicated by the team.

The subject shipboard trials were held in coordination with the Pakistan Navy and Schiebel's local partners in Pakistan.

Schiebel’s latest CAMCOPTER S-100 UAV System has been developed to carry various sensors for both military and civilian applications. The Aerial Vehicle is launched automatically via Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL), eliminating the need for a prepared area or additional launch and recovery equipment. It navigates via pre-programmed GPS waypoints, or can be operated manually through a simple, yet highly stable, flight control system.

The S-100, like its predecessor, is capable of landing on helicopter deckequipped ships without the use of additional landing equipment. Its AV fuselage is a carbon fiber monocoque providing maximum capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations. In a standard configuration, the AV is capable of carrying a 55 lbs payload for up to 6 hours.