Britain tests the ability of a transport drone to land and take off from a ship

LONDON – A twin-engine transport drone has landed on the deck of a British aircraft carrier in what the Royal Navy said is a first for the service.

The drone, dubbed HCMC, flew on and off the deck of HMS Prince of Wales during a test off the coast of Cornwall, south-west England, the Royal Navy announced on September 7.

The drone, developed by British company W Autonomous Systems, flew for about 20 minutes from an airfield in Predannack before landing safely on the deck of the aircraft carrier.

After offloading a small payload from the drone, it took off again and returned to Predannack.

The Royal Navy said in its statement that the aim of the program is to “deploy drones with a UK carrier strike group in the future, using them to transfer stores and supplies, such as mail or spare parts, between ships, without the need to launch helicopters”.

“It is a vital step on the path to the safe operation of unmanned aircraft. next to the F-35 Lightning aircraft and Merlin and Wildcat naval helicopters that are currently the backbone of the Fleet Air Arm.

The twin-engine, twin-boom drone is capable of delivering payloads weighing up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) with a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). The plane incorporates an autopilot system developed by British company Distributed Avionics, which eliminates the need for remote control by trained people.

The exercise was not the first time a drone had operated from HMS Prince of Wales, with previous experiments involving small quadcopters and the Banshee target drone; the latter is launched via catapult and uses a parachute to land.

However, the Royal Navy said the latest tests were in a “different league”, involving a larger and more capable drone than any previously tested.

The tests were carried out as the ship left UK waters for an event off the US east coast over the coming months that will include drills with F-35 fighters, tilt-rotor aircraft Osprey and the Mojave drone made by General Atomic.

HMS Prince of Wales was scheduled to deploy around this time last year, but suffered propeller shaft failure shortly after leaving her base in Portsmouth.

The HCMC drone trial is one of a series of experimental and operational drone programs with the Royal Navy, including a deal with Leonardo to develop an unmanned helicopter demonstrator and the purchase of Schiebel’s S-100 Camcopter for surveillance missions.