Swedish heli-UAV comes to market

The Skeldar V-150 UAV displayed by Saab (CON 5) has been refined since it first appeared at a defence exhibition and is now in a position to receive orders from military and security forces. Skeldar is in a quite different category from the tiny electric-driven devices seen on other stands and dedicated to very shortrange tasks.

The Swedish UAV is a short to medium-range system proposed for a wide range of applications, from mine detection to reconnaissance, EW, fire support convoy protection and much more. A video on the stand shows the Skeldar’s agility in and over difficult terrain, where it can be flown with precision in tight spaces.

Having an endurance of 4.5 hours, Saab says that the Skeldar can hover for hours to provide real-time information to a control station, but the helicopter’s modular design facilitates use of different payloads when engaged on other types of mission.

Meanwhile, other less military tasks such as power line patrols are likely to be among the first roles for Skeldar, but defence procurement agencies will be happy with that, since the performance of the aircraft will be proved before it enters service with armed forces.