Schiebel’s S-100 CAMCOPTER Supplements Marine Surveillance 

After a series of successful operations in 2021, Romanian border police are once again utilizing Schiebel’s unmanned, S-100 CAMCOPTER to carry out general coast guard functions.

The operations—which encompass day-to-day monitoring and surveillance of shipping activity, port security, accident and disaster response, and search-and-rescue operations—commenced in March, 2022 and are scheduled to continue until August. Romanian Border Police carried out 50 missions in the first two months of 2022 operations, during which the S-100 accumulated more than 170 hours. 

Schiebel Group Chairman Hans Georg Schiebel states, “The value of this service has been clearly demonstrated in our previous Romanian operations last year, and we are proud to support the Romanian authorities once again.”

Developed from 2003 to 2005, Schiebel’s S-100 CAMCOPTER—presumably a portmanteau of CAMera and heliCOPTER—is an unmanned aerial vehicle/rotorcraft featuring a standard, single, main-rotor and a tail-boom mounted, anti-torque rotor. The vehicle’s airframe makes extensive use of carbon-fiber, titanium, stainless-steel, and 3D-printing technology.

The S-100 is powered by a single-rotor, four-stroke, air and liquid-cooled, 294 cc (17.9 cu in) gasoline, Wankel (rotary) engine. On 12 March 2012 Schiebel successfully tested a heavy-fuel engine, which the company states is interchangeable with the standard powerplant. The new engine allows for the use of JP-5, Jet-A, or JP-8 jet fuels. 

Performance data on the S-100 asserts a top-speed of 130-knots, a service-ceiling of 18,000-feet, a 110 lbs. (50 kg) maximum payload weight, and 6+ hour endurance. Schiebel points out that the altitude and endurance figures are contingent upon reduced gross-weight. 

Designed for airborne security, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, the S-100 is capable of carrying a wide array of high-definition, electro-optical, imaging equipment that transmits in real-time to a ground-based control station. 

As of 2022, the vehicle has supported EMSA [European Maritime Safety Agency] operations in numerous European countries, to include: Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Spain and France.

FMI: https://schiebel.net