Nordic Unmanned starts operations with its second CAMCOPTER S-100 system in France

The delivery of the second CAMCOPTER S-100 system will increase Nordic Unmanned’s capability of conducting long-range Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations with 100%. The system will be under a framework contract with a client for the next two years. The first specific contract for the system will be operations in France for several months, fully crewed by Nordic Unmanned. The start of the operation in France marks another milestone as it is the first CAMCOPTER S-100 operation under the new European drone regulation. This comes after having obtained our Light UAS operator Certificate (LUC). The delivery also aligns with our previous communicated investment plan for CAMCOPTER S-100 system made on the 28th of January.

The start of operations with the second system comes after successful maritime emission monitoring and general maritime surveillance operations in Lithuania that started in Q1. The first CAMCOPTER S-100 system that Nordic Unmanned took delivery of is currently still under operations in Lithuania, where it has been operating for the last two months requested by the Environmental Protection Department of Lithuania’s Ministry of the Environment in collaboration with the Lithuanian Navy other Lithuanian maritime authorities. The Nordic Unmanned crew has so far delivered 100% of the scheduled flight hours, flights, and days of operations, proving the regularity of our long-range BVLOS operations.

The main tasks of our CAMCOPTER S-100 systems is still to measure ships' sulphur emissions, to verify compliance with EU rules governing the sulphur content of marine fuels, in addition to conducting general maritime surveillance. All data is transmitted in real time to the clients.

The CAMCOPTER S-100 operates day and night and can carry multiple payloads with a combined weight of up to 50 kg. Due to its minimal footprint, size and vertical take-off and landing capability, it is quickly deployed and can take-off from non-paved surfaces and from vessels.

Knut Roar Wiig, CEO at Nordic Unmanned, said: "After hard and great work from our dedicated team, it is with great satisfaction that we have started our second deployment with our CAMCOPTER S-100, this time in France after taken delivery of another Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 system this week. The fleet increase is according to our communicated investment and growth plan, and we will keep this second system in operations under our current contract just as we do with our first system. This system delivery alongside the recruitment of staff and start of operations is aligned with our plan to meet the communicated operational activity.

The investment in CAMCOPTER S-100 includes full lifetime support, spare parts and training. Expected financial lifetime of the CAMCOPTER S-100 is 10 years. The investment is financed with a combination of equity, bank credit facility combined with an export guarantee from GIEK. 

Nordic Unmanned have chosen Norwegian prime ministers in the naming of its fleet of CAMCOPTER S-100 drones. This new drone will be called “KJELL”, in reference to Kjell Magne Bondevik following the naming of its fleet siblings “ERNA” and “JENS”.