Air-sea breakthrough

An unmanned aerial vehicle has been successfully controlled from a UK warship for the first time, according to defence systems specialist Thales.

The trials were conducted by Team JUEP (Joint UAV Experimentation Programme) at the Benbecula experimental range off north-west Scotland, culminating in a Boeing ScanEagle UAV flight lasting eight hours and 14 minutes.

According to Thales, the successful flight at sea is a huge step forward in developing an effective UAV presence for the Royal Navy.

The ScanEagle was launched from a pneumatic wedge catapult on the headland at South Uist, before control was handed over to the control station on board HMS Sutherland, a Type 23 frigate.

A Sea King helicopter was able to vector the UAV to investigate radar contacts. Thales said this operational capability would give a warship commander an enhanced view of the area surrounding the ship and enable early warning and evasive action against fast attack craft.