Airbus Helicopter Copyright Airbus Helicopters is advancing its efforts to develop a fully autonomous tactical rotary wing Vertical Ta...
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| Airbus Helicopter Copyright |
Airbus Helicopters is advancing its efforts to develop a fully autonomous tactical rotary wing Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles.
Company recently commenced autonomous flight trials of a VSR 700 Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV) demonstrator, ahead of first flight of the actual VSR700 prototype in 2018.
A light military rotary-wing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle, the VSR700 is being developed jointly by Airbus Helicopters and Helicopteres Guimbal, the original manufacturer of the civil-certified Cabri G2 helicopter from which the VSR700 is derived.
The OPV is able to autonomously take-off, hover and perform stabilized flight and maneuvers and will help to mature the technologies associated to autonomous flight and confirm the suitability of the Cabri G2 platform.
This phase of flight trials with a safety pilot onboard will focus on refining Airbus Helicopters’ automatic flight control system aboard the OPV, eventually leading to fully autonomous flights without a safety pilot.
The VSR 700 flight control system is a fully-digital, multi-channel system with a very high level of redundancy. It takes advantage of Airbus Helicopters unique expertise in digital autopilots.
Sea trials of a manned Cabri G2 have also recently taken place with the support of a French Navy air defence frigate in order to assess the flight envelope of the VSR700 platform for shipborne operations.
The VSR700 will be capable of carrying a wide array of mission equipment with a maximum capacity of up to 250 kg. Depending on the mission, its endurance could exceed 10 hours.
Developed to meet navies’ requirements for a shipborne rotary-wing tactical unmanned aerial vehicle and complement to manned helicopters, it could also be used in land-based military operations to carry out ISTAR (Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) missions, thanks to the VSR700’s optical sensors and maritime/land radar.
The VSR700 will have a much lower operating cost than a helicopter not only thanks to its well-proven civil base vehicle and low-consumption diesel engine, but also because it requires fewer resources and less manpower to operate and maintain it.
