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Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat has successfully embarked an S-100 Camcopter unmanned aerial vehicle for a series of flight trials off the east coast of Australia.
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Personnel from Navy’s 822X Squadron and test specialists from the Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Trials Unit (AMAFTU) embarked Ballarat to collect data on how the 200 kilogram S-100 Camcopter UAV can launch and be retrieved at sea.
Trial director, Lieutenant Commander Chris Broadbent, said the trials were an important part of learning how to combine the payload capacity of the S-100 Camcopter with the warfare capabilities of the 118-metre long Anzac Class frigate.
LCDR Broadbent said, "The deployment of unmanned systems at sea will become a more common theme in modern maritime warfare, especially with the advent and continued development of artificial intelligence and robotic or autonomous systems."
The S-100 system has over 30,000 flight hours of experience around the world from land bases and many different classes of ship. The S-100 unmanned aerial system (UAS) consists of one or more remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and a ground control station (GCS) with associated antennas and interconnections necessary for RPA command and control.
The S-100 RPA is a small-medium sized vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircraft made of titanium and carbon fibre materials, designed to carry multiple payloads simultaneously for up to six hours at a time.
Embarked in Ballarat, 822X Squadron Flight Commander, Lieutenant Michael Mulquiney, said the S-100 Camcopter could support surface, amphibious or anti-submarine warfare, as well as in search and rescue and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
LEUT Mulquiney explained, "S-100 Camcopter is capable of vertical take-off and landing while carrying multiple payloads simultaneously. It can fly for up to several hours at a time and reach a maximum speed in excess of 100km/h."
822X Squadron was commissioned in 2018 and is based at HMAS Albatross near Nowra.
HMAS Ballarat is a long-range frigate capable of air defence, surface and undersea warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction. Ballarat's combat capabilities have been significantly improved under the Anti-Ship Missile Defence upgrade program, which provided an enhanced sensor and weapons systems capability.
