RoK Navy to operate Camcopter S-300s from two ship classes

A model of Schiebel's Camcopter S-300 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Schiebel in collaboration with South Korea's Hanwha Systems and UI Helicopter will provide three Camcopter S-300s equipped with locally developed synthetic aperture radars (SARs) and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors to the RoK Navy. (Janes)

The Republic of Korea (RoK) Navy plans to equip two undisclosed classes of its vessels with Schiebel's Camcopter S-300 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the company confirmed to Janes .

“[The Camcopter S-300 UAVs] will provide [the RoK Navy with] a maritime synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) [sensor] from a flexible platform to be used on two different ship classes as well as from a mobile container for land operations,” Michael Schiller, head of sales operations at Schiebel, told Janes on 5 March. The UAVs will also be used by the RoK Marine Corps (RoKMC), Schiller added.

Schiebel will initially provide three Camcopter S-300 UAVs to the RoK Navy and the RoKMC under a contract announced in February, Schiller said, adding that “there will be a follow-on contract for the serial production after completion [of deliveries]”.

The deliveries of the Camcopter S-300 UAVs to the RoK Navy and the RoKMC are expected to be completed by 2027, Schiller said.

Schiebel has partnered with South Korea's Hanwha Systems and UI Helicopter to fulfil this contract for the RoK Navy and the RoKMC. “Hanwha is the prime and the payload provider. Hanwha owns the EO/IR payload as well as the maritime SAR,” Schiller said.

“UI Helicopter will assemble the S-300 in Korea and will modify it to a unique S-300 Korea configuration,” Schiller added.