The following article is translated
In recent weeks, there has been repeated speculation in expert circles that the integration of helicopter drones on the German Navy’s corvettes is facing major problems. Today, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the project to deliver a naval drone system for “reconnaissance and identification in maritime operational areas” (AImEG) has been canceled. Contractually agreed milestones have not been reached, the reason given is.
The Sea Falcon helicopter drone, manufacturer name UMS Skeldar V-200, was to be used on the corvettes. The drone enables the ships to carry out long-range reconnaissance over a radius of more than one hundred kilometers, according to a Bundeswehr website. This “eye in the sky” ideally complements the corvettes’ main weapon, the long-range RBS15 Mk3 sea and land target guided missile.
The manufacturing company UMS Skeldar is now fully owned by the Swedish defense group Saab, after the latter acquired the shares of the Swiss co-owner.
During the development phase, the Navy initially had a complete unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with two helicopter drones plus a control station with two consoles and an equipment kit in its inventory, according to the Bundeswehr website. The control console is installed in the operations center. The equipment kit includes connections for the console and take-off and landing sensors for the flight deck of the corvettes. According to aviation circles, however, a Sea Falcon is said to have crashed last year.
According to the original plans, after the upstream development phase, the Navy was to receive three Sea Falcon drone systems for its corvettes starting this year. The Bundeswehr Procurement Office BAAINBw announced the conclusion of a corresponding contract with the main contractor, Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH (ESG), at the end of 2021. This was intended to implement the AImEG project to expand the corvettes’ imaging reconnaissance capabilities.
ESG led a consortium consisting of the manufacturer and supplier of the aircraft, UMS Skeldar Sweden, the manufacturer of the corvette, NVL BV & Co. KG, and the aviation electronics producer CUONICS.
In April 2021, the Bundestag’s committees for defense and budget gave the green light for the project as part of a 25 million euro proposal. The project was estimated at a total of 80.3 million euros. The majority of 52.6 million euros was earmarked for development in the pilot phase until 2023. The procurement of the systems and their integration on board the corvettes in 2024 and 2025 was estimated at 27.7 million euros at the time.
It is unclear what will happen next for the Navy. The BAAINBw, which is responsible for armaments, has no further information on this, as it said when asked. The obvious options would be to test a different drone system or wait for an improved version of the Sea Falcon. As a representative of the Sea Falcon manufacturer recently said on the sidelines of the Eurosatory trade fair in Paris, the helicopter drone is constantly being developed further.
The German defense company Diehl, together with the Austrian company Schiebel and Camcopter, also applied for the tender for the new naval UAS. However, the team around ESG and UMS Skeldar ultimately won out after Diehl and Schiebel did not submit a bid. The challenge was the Navy’s requirement to offer a powerful helicopter drone that uses kerosene as fuel.
The aviation group Airbus Helicopters is also working on the topic of drones for naval ships. The company is developing the VSR700 helicopter drone, based on a light helicopter, for the French Navy. Like the V-200, the UAS is powered by a diesel engine, but has a significantly higher take-off weight and a higher payload.