A year ago a
Japanese warship passed by a Chinese frigate that appeared to be flying a
helicopter UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) off its helicopter pad. The
Japanese took photos and passed them around. At first it was noted that
the helicopter looked like the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter. Schiebel is an
Austrian firm which markets the S-100 in many countries via the U.S.
firm Boeing Aircraft. But Schiebel continues to sell the S-100 itself,
and a little digging revealed that the Chinese had bought 18 S-100s in
2010. While the three S-100s seen on the aft deck of the Chinese frigate
do look like the S-100, there also appear to be some differences. It
appears that a Chinese firm copied the design of S-100 and created a
workable S-100 clone.
European nations are not supposed to sell China weapons
(because of an arms embargo), but the S-100s were apparently sold to
Chinese police organizations (which is legal and the S-100 does have
civilian users). One Chinese firm has since offered a helicopter UAV
similar to the S-100. China has become more blatant in copying foreign
designs, and then selling them to foreign customers and competing with
the original. Suing the Chinese usually does not work, as Chinese courts
favor the Chinese copycats, not the original creator of the technology.
The S-100 weighs 200 kg (440 pounds), can stay aloft six hours
per sortie, and operates at a max altitude of 5,500 meters (18,000
feet). Max speed is 220 kilometers an hour. So far, some 200 S-100s have
been sold to military and civilian customers.
Before the S-100 clone came along Chinese firms had already
developed several helicopter UAV designs. For example, the Chinese V750
weighs 757 kg (1,665 pounds) and has a payload of 80 kg (176 pounds).
Max speed is 161 kilometers an hour and endurance is four hours. The
V750 can fly a pre-programmed route or be controlled by a ground
operator (up to 150 kilometers away). The manufacturer is offering the
V750 for civilian (scientific survey, search and rescue, police
surveillance) and military uses. There are over a dozen other Chinese
helicopter UAVs on the market, many of them very similar in appearance
and performance to foreign designs.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has taken the lead in this area, with
several models developed in the last decade. The one most similar to
V750 is the MQ-8B Fire Scout which is operating in Afghanistan and
aboard warships. The U.S. Navy developed, and put into use, the MQ-8B. A
similar model, the RQ-8B, died because the U.S. Army already had plenty
of UAVs that got the job done. The navy kept Fire Scout because
helicopters are more practical on most navy ships (for landings and
takeoffs). Navy Fire Scouts have been successfully used on frigates (in
both the Atlantic and Pacific). There is a huge demand for UAVs in
Afghanistan, so the navy sent some there.
The 1.5 ton Fire Scout is based upon the Schweitzer 333
unmanned helicopter, which in turn is derived from the Schweitzer 330
commercial lightweight manned helicopter. Fire Scout has a payload of
272 kg (600 pounds), a cruising speed of 200 kilometers an hour, max
altitude of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), and endurance of eight hours.
The U.S. Navy plans to acquire over 160 Fire Scouts.
Several other navies have been testing helicopter UAVs on
their warships, and this type of UAV seems destined to replace a lot of
manned helicopters on warships and enable smaller warships (that cannot
handle the larger manned helicopters) to operate unmanned helicopters.
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