Unmanned systems against submarines: Schiebel contributes the S-300 to the EU project SEACURE

A call from the European Defence Fund targeted unmanned solutions for seabed warfare and anti-submarine warfare. Funding has been awarded to the SEACURE consortium led by Thales, which includes Schiebel. Unmanned systems are at the heart of the project.

SEACURE stands for “Seabed and Anti-Submarine Warfare Capability Through Unmanned Feature for Europe”. It brings together 35 companies from 13 European countries. Together they aim to advance capabilities in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and seabed warfare (SBW) with unmanned systems in the air, on the water surface and under water. The goal is to protect critical infrastructure at sea.

The priority is to detect, classify, identify and track underwater threats – even in difficult conditions.

Camcopter S-300: unmanned systems from the air

The Camcopter S-300, Schiebel’s latest product, is designated as the dedicated unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for the project. Its maximum take-off weight is 700 kilograms. With a camera and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR), it stays airborne for more than 24 hours; carrying a 250-kilogram payload, endurance is typically six hours. The S-300 is the first operational vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) system in its class to achieve these performance figures.

SEACURE is to culminate in a large-scale sea trial in 2028. Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group, puts the company’s participation in context:

“Since our first participation in the NATO exercise ‘REPMUS’ in 2022, we have been working successfully with Thales on various ASW solutions for the S-100. Thanks to its longer endurance and higher payload capacity, the S-300 opens up a wide range of new possibilities for anti-submarine and seabed warfare. The SEACURE project fits perfectly with our development strategy for the S-300, and we are proud to be part of this important undertaking.”— Hans Georg Schiebel, Chairman of the Schiebel Group