The Peregrine Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System (RWUAS) has been deployed from HMS Lancaster for the first time during live operations in the Middle East.
Operating from the flight deck of the frigate, which is engaged in a long-term maritime security mission in the region, Peregrine has been actively involved in patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman. These efforts are focused on identifying smugglers and drug traffickers operating along the notorious ‘Hash Highway.’ During its operational debut, the aircraft played a key role in locating and monitoring several small craft during board-and-search operations. As Royal Marines boarded suspect dhows, the drone provided intelligence that facilitated the seizure of illicit drugs and contraband.
Peregrine has conducted both day and night sorties, covering hundreds of square miles per mission while relaying live radar data and imagery directly to the operations room aboard HMS Lancaster. The clarity of its imaging capabilities has proved highly useful. Remotely piloted from the ship, Peregrine is capable of flying missions lasting up to 5 hours at extended ranges beyond the horizon. Peregrine is an RN-specific variant of the Schiebel S-100 fitted out by Thales UK with radar and an infrared/EO camera. These enhancements allow it to operate effectively at night and in poor visibility while reaching speeds of up to 125 mph.
Designed for extended and demanding surveillance tasks, Peregrine enables HMS Lancaster’s Wildcat helicopter to be preserved for interdiction and strike missions. Additionally, team from 700X Naval Air Squadron embarked on the ship successfully operated Peregrine in tandem with the 815 NAS Wildcat to explore the advantages of integrating both crewed and uncrewed aerial systems.
HMS Lancaster has also been fitted with (an unspecified) counter-drone system, an important addition given recent threats from Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Lancaster recently completed a maintenance period in Bahrain, including upgrades to her weapon systems and sensors. A major engineering task involved replacing one of the frigate’s diesel generators, requiring a section of the ship to be cut open to remove the old engine and install a new one.
Still planned to retire this year?
I assume you mean Lancaster and not Peregrine! I wonder if it would be a suitable Bristol replacement.
Wouldn’t last without continuous refits
Should order 10 for the River Batch 2’s, would dramatically improve operational effectiveness for cheap given they don’t have any aviation assets. 1 TEU on it’s shoulders should be suffice.
HMS Trent and Medway should have priority given patrol and policing operations, followed by HMS Forth for fishery jobs.
Lastly HMS Spey and HMS Tamar.
fvf hi the article February 4th 2020 up grading the batch 2 OPV’s .
This Peregrine system would be excellent and cheep, increasing range and capability for this class of vessel.
And I also think we should have more of them with maybe a dozen or so Sea Ceptor, as they are a long way from support!
Systems for recon, absolutely. Sea Ceptor, absolutely NOT.
Up arming the B2 Rivers makes no sense. For them to go to places with more threat than Pirates they would need more than just missiles. They would need better radar, EW, combat systems, damage control and most importantly people and training. That takes a good presence/patrol ship and adds a pile of money to make a poor light frigate.
Keep the B2’s as simple pure OPV’s not poor warships.
Agree, RB2’s are and always Will be OPV’s.
They are not designed up to warship damage control spec.
However, I would suggest replacing the 30mm with a 40mm, due to 40mm requiring 1/3rd the amount of maintenance while being better than 30mn for self defense.
Given it is now already in the RN with T31, I think it is the time.
Finally, give the ships a good deep clean, pressure was and new lick of paint + Bunk replacement / referbishment / whatever needs modernisation then boom.
All of the above including peregrine could probably be done for £5m per ship.
So if these come into regular service who will be piloting them, a suitably trained rating or officer ?
Does it matter?
Nah mate, they’re not gonna train the person who controls it, Of course not!
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/organisation/units-and-squadrons/support-and-training/744-naval-air-squadron
Seems to be staffed like a regular squadron
That is Test and Eval not flying.
Well currently at least one of the Peregrine pilots is an officer so most likely be an alternative pilot route?
Auto Pilots.
Don’t you just love these “Unmanned” Capabilities ? lol……. Only 17 Blokes it takes to get this one un manned tiny Asset to perform…. Oh the Irony.
Lol!
Ironically thats the reason everything takes so long to implement, too many cooks in the kitchen.
I read this the other day about a future autonomous underwater system for RN…it had every buzz word around and seems to suggest no crew involved
While they work it all out , the RN side would be overstaffed as everyone gets on the bandwagon
I genuinely believe that this whole rush to automation is being led by fresh out of Uni Graduates and that we are in danger of losing grip on reality. This picture tells a story all on it’s own and that’s not including all the other humans in the chain. And It’s still only a bloody small RC Chopper.
Specially the weather limitations of this thing.
Of course you have people involved when trialling a new capability. Better than the RN gets to see how well something does the job it’s claimed to do before actually buying it. Or do you prefer the RN wasting money on buying kit which proved to be useless when used for real.
COCONO is only for evaluation trials, after which, IF successful the RN would buy and operate.
(a) You can’t count, as there’s 18 blokes in the picture
(b) Two are clearly civilians, obviously out there helping getting it operational and into service – not to make it “perform”.
(c) Obviously doesn’t need all all those pictured to get it ‘to perform’. That photo is probably to commemorate the handover to being operational, so included in it is anyone with even the slightest involvement – eg those sorting out hanger space for it, updating procedures aboard, etc etc etc. it clearly states in the article that people from 700X were aboard to work out how best the Peregrine could work in a team with the Wildcard. They’re obviously not going to be aboard every vessel with a Peregrine.
So it takes 18 people then !!!! Deary me.
Clearly you can’t count and can’t read if you think that..
Still less than it takes for conventional helicopters.
I should think so too, It’s a toy in comparison to a Merlin. (another new name ?)
Endurance? way more important than speed.
I can see Gordon Ramsey, Hester Blumenthal, Gino De Campo. John Healy. Grant from Eastenders, H from Steps . That Black Guy from Magnum PI and at least 3 members of Boyzone…. Maybe things aren’t as bad after all.
I believe things never seem that bad when you’ve been smoking whatever you have!
It was Humour but if you look at the Pic you’ll deffo see resemblances.
Spam?
Thick ?
Would be great seeing it drop sonar bouys or Sting Rays.
not likely to able to lift a Sting Ray torpedo which weighs approx 270 Kg.
A Martlet has been test fired from a Jackal, would be interesting to see if Peregrine could too.
There’s an old picture of a Camcopter (which Peregrine is based on) sporting two Martlets on the Martlet Wikipedia page. Rudeboy claimed Martlets had also been fired from the Camcopter, in Navy Lookout comments a couple of years ago. It’s also stated in Wikipedia, and many press sources say that Thales have test fired them. However, the radar system would have to be removed first. Totting up the weights, I think it’s one or the other for Peregrine. Not both.
This is why we need two, and the standard civvy TEU 20 ft container with workstation it was always a package of two I think? Target marking is using a laser for Martlet from memory.
That’s what the far larger Proteus drone will be for.
Proteus provides for stores transport, dropped sonor buoys, dipping sonor, etc, so a Martlet toting version is definitely feasible. Hopefully we’ll hear more when it starts flying this year.