UMS V-200 (Skeldar)

Unmanned Maritime Rotorcraft

Sweden | 2013

"The Skeldar was developed through a joint venture between the Swedish Saab concern and UMS Skeldar as a rotary-wing maritime service UAS."

Authored By: Dan Alex | Last Edited: 11/10/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Image from Stefan Kalm, Copyright Saab AB.

Firepower

Performance

Survivability

Versatility

Impact

The Saab Skeldar is an unarmed, rotary-wing Unmanned Aricraft System (UAS). It is a relatively young development in the unmanned vehicle field that has been dominated by fixed-wing implements with a few notable exceptions. The Skeldar makes use of a 55 horsepower engine powering a two-bladed main rotor assembly and a two-bladed tail rotor assembly to reach altitudes of 2,400 meters and operates in the same horizontal/vertical manner as a traditional helicopter. While not armed in any way, the UAV is more akin to the early generation of unmanned vehicles centering on information gathering and specialized equipment-minded payloads. As such, the Skeldar is being developed with maritime patrol, light transport, electronic warfare, and surveillance sorties in mind. It is being marketed as a multirole solution to which the aircraft can be fielded from land bases or at sea - making it a tempting product for armies and navies of the world.

The benefits of a rotary-wing UAV over that of a fixed-wing UAV are the same as in the full-sized manned versions of similar aircraft. Rotary-wing aircraft do not require runways to take-off or land from and can hover over areas while distributing cargo without landing. The added benefit of an unmanned helicopter is rather obvious as no pilot or crew are placed in harm's way during missions. In this fashion, the Skeldar holds some inherent benefits in its design over that of traditional fixed-wing UAVs currently in service. Control is provided for by a ground station and applicable crew. The Skeldar is categorized as a "medium range" UAV solution and sports automated landing and take-off procedures which allows for "hands-off" operation of the system by ground personnel. The aircraft is not wholly autonomous, however, and still reliant upon the ground control station to make mid-air changes to the flight parameters.

Design of the UAV is rather basic featuring a finely contoured fuselage shell encompassing the avionics, engine, fuel stores, applicable mission equipment and empennage. Its configuration is consistent with full-scale rotary-type aircraft in that there is a main rotor assembly set atop a short mast at the center of the design with a small tail rotor facing portside and driven by an internal shaft through a short fuselage stem. The entire structure sits atop a reinforced, two-point skid assembly - essentially the fixed undercarriage form common to many commercial and military helicopters. Overall length is 4 meters with a width of 1.2 meters and height of 1.3 meters. The system is cleared to carry up to 40 kilograms of mission equipment and yields a maximum take-off weight of 200 kilograms. Operational speeds are approximately 130 km/h with a range out to 150 km and maximum altitude of 2,400 meters. The aircraft is listed with a mission endurance time of 5 hours.

The Skeldar UAV is based on the original CybAero APID 55 unmanned system. CybAero was founded in 2003 as an aerospace and defense industry contractor specializing primarily in the design and development of UAV systems. The Skeldar was born in a 2005 initiative headed by Saab which eventually produced the initial Skeldar V-150 mark in 2006. Further work on the type then evolved to become the V-200 mark. Today, the Skeldar remains an ever-evolving, yet promising, UAV product.

The Skeldar name is derived from Nordic for "Shield".

Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

November 2021 - The German Navy will begin operating the Skeldar V-200 UAS helicopter (the "Sea Falcon" program) from the decks of its K130 class corvettes.

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the UMS V-200 Skeldar Unmanned Maritime Rotorcraft.

1 x Internal 55 horsepower engine driving a two-bladed main rotor and two-bladed tail rotor.
Propulsion

81 mph
130 kph | 70 kts
Max Speed

14,764 ft
4,500 m | 3 miles
Service Ceiling

93 miles
150 km | 81 nm
Operational Range

City-to-City Ranges
Operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the UMS V-200 Skeldar Unmanned Maritime Rotorcraft.

0
(UNMANNED)
Crew

13.1 ft
4.00 m
O/A Length

16.4 ft
(5.00 m)
O/A Width

4.3 ft
(1.30 m)
O/A Height

441 lb
(200 kg)
MTOW

Design Balance
The three qualities reflected below are altitude, speed, and range. The more full the box, the more balanced the design.

RANGE

ALT

SPEED

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the UMS V-200 (Skeldar) Unmanned Maritime Rotorcraft .

None. Mission equipment up to 40 kilograms total.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the UMS V-200 (Skeldar) family line.

"Skeldar" - Base Series Name.

V-150 - Development Version.

V-200 - Production Version.

"Sea Falcon" - German Navy project name.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the UMS V-200 (Skeldar). Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 25 Units
Contractor(s): Saab Group - Sweden / UMS Skeldar - Switzerland

[ Canada; Germany; Indonesia; Spain (trials) ]

1 / 1

Image from Stefan Kalm, Copyright Saab AB.

Going Further...
The UMS V-200 (Skeldar) Unmanned Maritime Rotorcraft appears in the following collections:

HOME

AVIATION INDEX

AIRCRAFT BY COUNTRY

AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2024 Military Pay Scale Military Ranks U.S. DoD Dictionary Conversion Calculators Military Alphabet Code Military Map Symbols US 5-Star Generals WW2 Weapons by Country

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Part of a network of sites that includes Global Firepower, WDMMA.org, WDMMW.org, and World War Next.

©2024 www.MilitaryFactory.com • All Rights Reserved • Content ©2003-2024 (21yrs)