Sagem's Patroller UAS passes qualification milestones »

By Leandro Maldonado
01 December 2011

Sagem's Patroller MALE UAV pictured during intensive flight testing at Istres air base in France. The two nacelles under the wing are representative of typical radar or photographic payloads that could be carried on demand. © Sagem

Paris, 1 December 2011 — The French company Sagem has successfully completed a series of flight tests of its long endurance surveillance Patroller drone introduced for the first time at the 2009 Paris air show. The Patroller UAV is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone in the 1-ton class, based on an EASA-certified (European Aviation Safety Agency) Stemme aircraft. It capitalizes on technologies already developed by Sagem for the Sperwer Mk.II tactical drone, and field experience in Afghanistan. It features a modular design, allowing it to carry different pod-mounted payloads, and offers flight endurance of 20 to more than 30 hours, at a maximum altitude of 25,000 feet.

These 14 test flights, carried out from Istres air force base in southern France, between 19 September 19 to October 21, met the following objectives:

- Qualification of the aircraft's in-flight performance, including automated landings at a steep glide slope;
- Integration of a new data link for taxiing, and a new, higher-performance imaging chain for target identification;
- Qualification of new flight control functions supporting degraded operating modes, as well as automated touchdowns in case of actuator or propulsion system failure.

The redundant avionics suite showed a clear improvement in flight safety, enabling the Patroller to receive authorization from French authorities to overfly densely populated zones in controlled airspace. The Patroller drone was also operated over the Mediterranean Sea to test operational maritime and coastal surveillance scenarios, mimicking homeland security and illegal immigration control missions. Designed for a wide range of either defence or homeland security long-endurance surveillance mission needs, it is said to have the lowest operating costs of all comparable UAS.

Sagem will be able to deliver a complete, fully operational Patroller system within 12 to 18 months.

Source: Sagem

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