Swedish UAV manufacturer CybAero AB, listed on NASDAQ OMX First North in Stockholm, in collabora6on with the Norwegian Coast Guard and Coastal Agency, has conducted a series of flights with its unmanned helicopter, the APID 60, in winds up to gale force. The flights took place over the Arc6c Ocean, near the Norwegian village of Vardø, on behalf of “Arctic UAS”  Arc6c Unmanned AircraN Systems). During these flight tests the APID 60 carried a high precision landing system from EADS Astrium enabling fully autonomous, precision takeQoffs and landings from ships.

The flights were carried out under realis<c condi<ons in some of the world’s most extreme weather condi<ons. In collabora<on with civil organiza<ons, inter alia, the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV#Farm and the rescue and service vessel Normand Jarl, different applica<ons were tested such as shoreline search and rescue, the monitoring and controlling of oil spill cleanIup efforts at the deployment of oil booms. CybAero also simulated missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance of terrorist and smuggling ac<vi<es.

“It’s one thing to show that you can fly, but quite another to actually perform the task in these harsh condi<ons. The fully autonomous landing system developed by Astrium is currently integrated into the APID 60 and is seen as one key component for managing assignments of this nature,” says Andreas Gising, Flight Opera<ons Officer and Manager on site in Vardø. “The performance of the Astrium HighIPrecision Local Naviga<on System is fully in line with the requirements we face for automated shipIboard opera<ons.”

The ability to quickly determine the loca<on of oil spills was highly appreciated by the Coast Guard.

“These flights have shown that small unmanned vehicles have dis<nct competitve advantages over manned aircra[. We have a robust product in our APID 60 which is the world’s only complete helicopterIUAV system and a highly skilled team that can develop systems tailored for difficult and dangerous missions” says Leif Erlandsson, CEO of CybAero.

Vardø is located off the east coast of the Norwegian Polar Sea, north of Kirkenes and Murmansk.

Website:  www.cybaero.se

Movies: www.youtube.com/cybaero