Estonia assigns Camcopter S-100 to maritime surveillance tasks.

According to a press release published by Schiebel on April 21, 2021, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) is operating the CAMCOPTER® S-100 for enhanced maritime surveillance in the Baltic Sea. The Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) service is delivered by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and is also extended to Finland.
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CAMCOPTER® S-100 (Picture source: Armada International)

The CAMCOPTER® S-100 is currently supporting the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, followed by the Finnish Border Guard later this year, in carrying out enhanced maritime surveillance in the Baltic Sea. The RPAS is being used to gain a better picture of what is happening at sea, particularly useful in this region, where busy shipping lanes and high cargo traffic make maritime safety and security a challenge.

Operational cooperation is possible among all the participating member states which, in addition to Estonia and Finland, also include Latvia and Sweden. The information collected on board the CAMCOPTER® S-100 is shared simultaneously with these neighboring countries, thereby helping them to create a common maritime picture and respond in close coordination with each other.

The S-100 executes these tasks equipped with a TRAKKA TC-300 Electro-Optical / Infra-Red (EO/IR) camera gimbal, an Overwatch Imaging PT-8 Oceanwatch, a Becker Avionics BD406 Emergency Beacon Locator and an Automatic Identification System
(AIS) receiver.

Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS) is an operationally proven capability for military and civilian applications. The Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS requires no prepared area or supporting equipment to enable launch and recovery.

It operates by day and by night, under adverse weather conditions, with a beyond line-of-sight capability out to 200 km / 108 nm, over land and sea. Its carbon fiber and titanium fuselage provides capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations up to a service ceiling of 5,500 m / 18,000 ft. In a typical configuration, the CAMCOPTER® S-100 carries a 34-kg / 75-lbs payload up to 10 hours and is powered with AVGas or JP-5 heavy fuel. High-definition payload imagery is transmitted to the control station in real-time.

In addition to its standard GPS waypoint or manual navigation, the S-100 can successfully operate in environments where GPS is not available, with missions planned and controlled via a simple point-and click graphical user interface.