In an important first for the Royal Navy, a ScanEagle, developed by Boeing and Insitu Group was launched from on board HMS Sutherland, its imagery monitored in flight by a networked Sea King Mk7 with Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) capability, put through a series of surveillance tasks and successfully recovered to the ship.

During one exercise, the ScanEagle UAV conducted a six-hour flight around the Hebrides range, off the North West coast of Scotland and transmitted real-time video images to HMS Sutherland. Also demonstrated was the application of Network Enabled Capability (NEC) by satellite and the ability to link with Naval and Strike Headquarters hundreds of miles away, and onwards to other networked naval assets. The imagery was also used to adjust targeting of the ships guns during a live firing exercise on a floating buoy.

Close cooperation between the MoD and Team JUEP allowed the trial to be completed within six months of the contract being awarded. A key to the successful conclusion of the trial was the use of the Thales Synthetic Environment facility, located in Crawley, which enabled planning, familiarisation and rehearsal of missions.

The maritime strand of the JUEP project - with Thales UK and team partners Boeing/Insitu and QinetiQ working in conjunction with the Royal Navy - was initiated by the MoD in 2004 to inform the future requirements for UAVs in the Maritime and Littoral environment.

"We are extremely pleased with the tests which have aided our understanding of using UAVs in the maritime environment," said Col Kevin Harvey, team leader for UAV projects at the MoD. "The experiences will help the Royal Navy in directing the consideration of future capability requirements in this area of technology."

Richard Deakin, Managing Director Thales Aerospace UK said: "This is a significant success for Team JUEP, and for Thales UK in leading the team to a successful conclusion in the trials. The experiences gathered over the period will feed into the Royal Navy's future concept development for ISTAR and will directly inform the requirements for programmes such as Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC) and forthcoming maritime UAVs."

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