Operations from Norwegian Coastguard Vessel Form Part of Arctic 2030 Project

Schiebel has announced that its CAMCOPTER S-100 has completed a series of flight trials in the Arctic, where it was operated from on board a Norwegian coastguard ship.

The aircraft flew from the KV NORDKAPP during a deployment from Norway to Svalbard. The project is part of the wider Arctic 2030 programme, the client for which is Norway’s Andøy municipal administration, with grant funding from the nation’s foreign ministry. The intention is to show how VTOL unmanned aircraft can increase maritime safety in the Arctic region. The CAMCOPTER S-100 was selected for the project by the Andøya Test Centre, a division of Andøya Space, which operates Norway’s space launch site on the island, approximately 125km west of Tromsø.

During the week-long trial, the CAMCOPTER carried a Trakka TC-300 EO/IR sensor, a PT-8N OCEANWATCH target-detection payload from Overwatch Imaging, an AIS receiver and a Radionor antenna as an additional datalink to transmit the video feed. The operational scenarios used during the trial were designed to demonstrate the aircraft’s utility in embarked search-and-rescue missions.

“Fisheries are a major industry for Andøy and we want to strengthen Norway’s ability to carry out search and rescue in Norwegian waters, as well as be at the forefront of general ocean monitoring,” said Jonni Helge Solsvik, a representative of the municipality. “The drones have many applications such as environmental monitoring, search and rescue, fauna mapping, customs and fisheries supervision. Andøy municipality wants to facilitate the development of new capacities that can strengthen emergency preparedness in the north.”