Eurocopter Flies Unmanned EC145, targets civil applications | Aviation International News

Eurocopter Flies Unmanned EC145, targets civil applications

During a demo flight at Istres air force base, the unmanned EC145 performed a hover to release a sling load.

By Thierry Dubois • Writer

July 2, 2013

Eurocopter performed a demonstration flight of an “optionally piloted vehicle” (OPV) version of the EC145 in late April, with the goal of eventually employing any of its models in unmanned operations such as automated surveillance and cargo hauling. Secret flight-testing began two weeks earlier at Istres air force base in France. The project’s coordination team is based at Eurocopter’s research and development center in Donauwörth, Germany, where the first flights, with a monitoring pilot, took place.

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