Schiebel will provide its Camcopter S-100 UAV as the air vehicle to CenTauri Solutions under a subcontract for counter-IED project ‘Yellow Jacket’.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has contracted CenTauri Solutions to examine the feasibility of using a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to help detect potential improvised explosive devices (IEDs) threats.

CenTauri will design a system incorporating a high-definition electro-optical sensor combined with an unintentional electromagnetic emissions detector on-board the VTOL S-100 UAV.

The S-100 can deploy for over six hours at a time, carrying up to 75lb of different payloads out to range of 180km, up to a height of 18,000ft AMSL and with a small logistics footprint.

IEDs have been identified as the single greatest threat to US and coalition forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.