The EU has ordered Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-300 drones

The latest Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-300 drone has been selected for a major European defense project.

Schiebel, a member of the SEACURE consortium led by Thales, has received a grant agreement.

The agreement is part of a European Defense Fund project to develop unmanned anti-submarine and underwater solutions.

The SEACURE consortium consists of 35 companies from 13 European countries. Its work aims to develop joint anti-submarine warfare.

Its focus lies on detecting, classifying, identifying, and tracking underwater threats.

Schiebel’s latest product, the CAMCOPTER S-300, will serve as this project’s specialized unmanned aerial system.

With a maximum takeoff weight of 700 kg, the S-300 offers an impressive flight time of over 24 hours with camera and radar or 6 hours with a 250 kg payload.

It is the first operational vertical takeoff and landing drone in its class to achieve this capability.

“Thanks to its longer flight time and higher payload capacity, the S-300 opens up many new opportunities for anti-submarine defense,” company representatives stated.

It is planned that the SEACURE project will be completed with large-scale tests by 2028.

The CAMCOPTER S-300, an enlarged version of the CAMCOPTER S-100, was first demonstrated at Euronaval 2022. The unmanned aerial vehicle is 4.8 meters long, 1.9 meters high and 0.9 meters wide. It can fly at a maximum speed of 120 knots (cruising speed – 55 knots).

Schiebel won a contract to develop and supply the S-300 vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle for the Navy of the Republic of Korea a year ago. At the same time, the company also manufactured its drones for Russia. In 2022, Ukrainian paratroopers shot down a Russian S-100 drone for the first time, which was called Horizon Air S-100 in Russia.