The VSR700 VTOL UAV was spotted by local photographer Hervé Dermoune on 26 September 2023 aboard Aquitaine-class frigate Provence at Toulon naval base.
A week later, data from aircraft tracking website ADSB showed that the flight testing started on 4 Oct. 2023. The screenshot below shows that F-ZWSR (which is the tail number of the drone) took to the skies “from the sea” off Hyeres naval air base (which is close to Toulon naval base) and the DGA test center located on an island:
Contacted by Naval News at the end of September, the French Navy and Airbus Helicopters declined to comment but confirmed that tests of the drone from a frigate were imminent.
The VSR700 has already been tested at sea but from a commercial vessel. The test campaign took place in May 2023. While one (of two) VSR700 prototype landed on the water at the end of this campaign, the prototype was retrieved and overall, the results of the campaign were deemed “very positive”. “The VSR700 prototype opened its flight envelope in winds above 40 knots, accumulated eight hours of testing in 14 flights, and made successful landings in several different sea states,” said the head of the program at the time. It is the second prototype which is being used in the current campaign aboard the frigate.
As we previously reported, the VSR700 was initially set to start its at-sea test from FREMM Provence in September 2022, but we learned in September last year that due to technical issues, this test campaign was pushed to March/April 2023. It appears that the program suffered another delay but the test aboard the frigate is taking place at last.
Frigate Provence received special equipment to support those tests and Naval News understands that she is the only vessel in her class to have received the testing equipment. Answering a question by Naval News, a French Navy public affairs officers explained “This is the equipment necessary for the implementation of a drone system including data link antenna and temporary test equipment belonging to the contractors”.
On 5 October, Admiral Vaujour, the newly appointed Chief of Staff of the French Navy said at the defense commission of the French Parliament:
“On the SDAM, we are in the process of achieving something that will be unique. We will be carrying out automatic landing tests aboard the [Frigate] Provence very soon. Automatically landing a helicopter drone on a vessel has never been successful at this stage. Except by us”
“We are in the process of achieving this technological breakthrough. The American Fire Scout […] does not automatically land on ships. So, we want to win this technological ‘step’. Our industry is capable of doing it and we can be proud of it […] We want to succeed because the day we succeed in doing automatic landing, we completely change the issue of drones [aboard ships]” the head of the French Navy added.
About VSR700 Naval VTOL UAV
The VSR700 has been selected as the demonstrator for the French Navy’s “Système de Drone Aérien pour la Marine” or SDAM programme. According to the French military planning law (LPM), 15 SDAM systems are set to be delivered to the French Navy from 2028. They will be deployed aboard the future frigates of the French Navy, the FDI as well as the FREMM.
Two SDAM demonstrators have been produced so far. The companies involved in the program are Airbus Helicopters, Naval Group and some French SMEs: In particular Hélicoptères Guimbal, which produces the Cabri G2 helicopter, from which the SDAM is derived. But also Diadès Marine which provides the C-RANGER 200 Airborne Radar. According to initial information obtained by Naval News, the radar performed superbly last week, as it was able to detect contacts close to the Italian coast (over 100km away).
The VTOL UAV made its maiden flight on November 8. 2019 at the Aix-en-Provence drone test center (south of France). Several test captive flights were successfully performed on an enhanced version of the UAV.
The VSR700 has a maximum take-off weight between 500 and 1000 kg, Airbus stated. The VSR700 capabilities are not officially known, but is expected to « automatically land and take-off, fly for ten hours at 100 Nm and carry 100 kilos of payload, i.e. radar and optronics.
Naval News visited last year the Airbus Helicopters site in Aix-en-Provence to learn about the VSR700. Nicolas Delmas, VSR700 program director, answered our questions:
