Baby shark uav for rescue

Baby shark uav are to start operational missions for the first time in the UK to assist search and rescue helicopters. The remotely controlled aircraft - which some have given the unofficial nickname of "baby shark" - will provide safety flight patrols over north Wales.

Initially, the drones will fly at the weekend only, allowing coastguard teams to watch live incidents from the air.

"Search and rescue is about saving lives. Every second counts and every minute saved can prove the difference between life and death," said Claire Hughes, director of HM Coastguard.

The drones - also called unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs - are built by Austrian firm Schiebel and have a range of 108 nautical miles (200km).

They can operate at up to 18,000ft (5,500m), staying airborne for about 10 hours. They can beam live footage back to their control room day or night, even in adverse weather conditions.

"UAV technology has advanced to the stage where its deployment significantly enhances the capability of air search and rescue operations, improving the reach of the service and reducing risk for the public and our crews," said Russ Torbet, which runs the service on behalf of the coastguard.

The UK government said it expected unmanned aircraft to fulfil an increasingly important role in search and rescue when it awards a new contract for the service in 2022.

Maritime minister Kelly Tolhurst added: "We will stop at nothing to keep people safe on our shores and in our seas, exploring new and innovative ways to further bring search and rescue into the 21st Century.

"Baby shark uav have the potential to help our coastguard teams help save even more lives so I'm excited we're pioneering these advances in the UK."

Flydragon baby shark UAV VTOL 250 Fixed wing

FlyDragon Baby shark uav VTOL is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can hover, take off, and land vertically. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors.[1] Some VTOL aircraft can operate in other modes as well, such as CTOL (conventional take-off and landing), STOL (short take-off and landing), and/or STOVL (short take-off and vertical landing). Others, such as some helicopters, can only operate by VTOL, due to the aircraft lacking landing gear that can handle horizontal motion. VTOL is a subset of V/STOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing). Some lighter-than-air aircraft also qualify as VTOL aircraft, as they can hover, takeoff, and land with vertical approach/departure profiles. Electric and hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft eVTOL is a technology being used in the quest for fully autonomous passenger air vehicles (PAV). 

Wingspan: 2.5m
Frame Weight: 2.68kg
Fuselage:Composites
Total Weight: 5.5kg(without battery)
Max Take-off Weight: 12kg
Max Payload: 6.5kg(including battery)
Max Flight Time: 2.5 hours
Max Speed: 100km/h