Austrian manufacturer Schiebel has demonstrated its S-100 unmanned helicopter conditions for Canadian officials.
The 242-pound helicopter was demonstrated off Fogo Island off Newfoundland to officials from the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy, Transport Canada, the Canadian National Research Council and the University of Alaska in partnership with the Memorial University of Newfoundland, according to a Schiebel news release.
“During trials at the end of March 2016, the CAMCOPTER S-100, equipped with the Wescam MX-10S payload camera, once again demonstrated its operational value and mission effectiveness in open waters under icy winter conditions,” Schiebel said. “The combination of the VTOL air vehicle and the Wescam MX-10S camera demonstrated its potential to easily identify vessels, animals and objects at long ranges at sea.”
The S-100 was deployed aboard the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker George R. Pearkes.
“About 60 nautical miles north from Fogo Island, the vessel broke through the ice at speeds of up to 14 knots, guided by imagery from the CAMCOPTER S-100, which offered to the ship’s captain not only a wide view image of the ice structure, but also identified boundaries between flat and rough ice,” Schiebel said.
