Airbus Helicopters has completed a series of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) test flights in collaboration with Schiebel to explore the advantages and challenges of MUM-T flight operations.
Tests were performed as part of a technology partnership between the Austrian Armaments and Defense Technology Agency (ARWT) and Schiebel.
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Expected to primarily serve the army aviation sector, the tests involved the use of Airbus Helicopters’ manned, twin-engine H145 platform and Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 unmanned air system (UAS).
As part of the tests, the H145 and CAMCOPTER S-100 aircraft jointly flew to test capabilities, including the detection of objects in areas that traditional helicopters cannot access.
Operators in the H145 helicopter controlled and piloted the S-100 vehicle.
During the tests, MUM-T flights were temporarily operated by a ground-based control station to simulate the return of the manned helicopter for refuelling.
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By GlobalDataThe trials have achieved the highest Level 5 of interoperability (LOI 5) by enabling the manned aircraft to exercise full control of the UAS, including its take-off and landing.
Airbus Helicopters programme manager Mark Henning said: “Manned-unmanned teaming multiplies the capabilities of both systems.
“Smaller UAS with vertical take-off and landing capabilities can, for example, fly around obstacles as trees or buildings closer than a helicopter could.
“They are able to explore unknown territory and deliver information to the helicopter crew, which is operating from a safe position and which can then step in with the helicopter’s superior effects, having received a clear picture from the UAS.”
Airbus Helicopters and Schiebel intend to use the results of the MUM-T flight tests to optimise the human-machine interface based on detailed analysis of crew workload.
