Exclusive: Airbus Flexrotor Aerial Drone Demonstrates Shipborne Surveillance Capability with French Navy.

Announced via its official X account on June 11, 2025, Airbus Helicopters successfully demonstrated the maritime capabilities of its Flexrotor Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) during trials aboard a French Navy patrol vessel. The UAS executed multiple takeoffs and landings at sea, confirming its Vertical TakeOff and Landing (VTOL) and long-endurance performance, and underlining its potential as a versatile ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) asset for naval forces. This marks a significant step toward the operational integration of VTOL drones into the French Navy's evolving unmanned ecosystem.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

Airbus Helicopters Flexrotor unmanned aerial system onboard a French Navy patrol vessel during maritime trials, showcasing its VTOL capability and adaptability for naval surveillance missions. (Picture source: airbus Helicopters)

The Flexrotor is a compact, expeditionary UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) specifically designed to operate in austere environments with minimal logistical support. Its defining feature is its VTOL (Vertical TakeOff and Landing) capability, which enables it to launch and recover vertically from small platforms, including naval vessels without dedicated helicopter decks. Once airborne, the Flexrotor transitions into fixed-wing flight, delivering over 12 hours of continuous endurance depending on payload configuration. With a modular payload bay, the drone can carry electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), maritime surveillance radar, and electronic support measures (ESM) to fulfill a range of mission profiles.

The Flexrotor’s primary missions are centered around maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). It is optimized for persistent over-the-horizon monitoring, allowing naval forces to detect, track, and classify surface targets far beyond line of sight. It can also support maritime interdiction operations, assist in search and rescue (SAR) missions, monitor exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and provide early warning against asymmetric threats such as fast attack craft or unmarked vessels engaged in smuggling or illegal fishing.

For the French Navy, which is increasingly investing in unmanned capabilities as part of its strategic transformation, the Flexrotor could serve as a key enabler for distributed operations, especially aboard offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), amphibious ships, and future drone-centric surface combatants. Its ability to operate independently of large flight decks or launch systems gives it a clear tactical edge in littoral environments and in operations requiring agility and speed of deployment.

In addition to ISR, the Flexrotor’s flexibility makes it a candidate for signal intelligence (SIGINT) collection, battle damage assessment, environmental monitoring, and even naval gunfire spotting in support of precision engagement. During multi-domain operations, it could function as a forward sensor node, feeding real-time data into the French Navy’s combat management systems and contributing to joint situational awareness alongside manned aircraft, satellites, and surface ships.

While France already employs mini-UAVs like the SMDM (Système de Mini-Drones de la Marine) for short-range surveillance and is developing larger systems such as the SDAM (Système de Drone Aérien Marine) based on the Airbus VSR700, the Flexrotor fills a critical niche for autonomous, long-endurance surveillance from smaller vessels. Its successful shipboard demonstration not only validates its operational relevance but also offers a scalable, low-risk solution to augment maritime ISR without requiring major shipboard modifications or increased personnel burden.

The integration of the Flexrotor into the French Navy would reinforce national and European autonomy in unmanned systems, support NATO interoperability goals, and provide a robust platform for ISR missions in both peacetime patrols and high-intensity scenarios. As navies worldwide adapt to an era of unmanned force multipliers, the Flexrotor presents a compelling option for France’s maritime future.