French Navy first to test mini UAV on small ship
The French Navy has beaten the U.S. Navy to the punch by deploying unmanned aerial vehicles on small vessels.
It appears the French Navy has beaten the U.S. Navy to the punch, in terms of deploying unmanned aerial vehicles on small vessels anyway, with the new Camcopter S-100, reports Bill Sweetman at Aviation Week’s Ares blog.
The French Navy gave the 440-pound autonomous UAV built by Austria's Schiebel a whirl in November on DCNS' Gowind-class offshore patrol vessel L'Adroit, the first ship built specifically to operate small drones, the blog said.
And it’s certain that the Camcopter S-100 and Gowind will not be the last of their kind, with manufacturers catering more and more to small UAVs with new technologies, including mini radar, communication relays and other payloads that enable them to multitask.