Скачать или смотреть First UK testing of unmanned police helicopter for the National Police Air Service (UK) 3/Aug/2025

An unmanned police helicopter has been tested in the UK for the first time.

The remotely-piloted aircraft is larger than existing drones used by police forces and has a greater range and cuts emissions.

The National Police Air Service (NPAS) said it is not expected to replace existing helicopters, but is intended to join the fleet to carry out searches for suspects and missing people.

David Walters, NPAS head of futures and innovation, said it would help them stay airborne for longer, adding: "This capability in the future will be able to stay on task anywhere between eight and 12 hours."

The Schiebel Camcopter S-100 carries the same high-powered infrared camera as standard police helicopters but can fly for up to 12 hours.

It is expected to be quieter and lead to fewer noise complaints.

Night-time test flights are being conducted over the Bristol Channel, in a programme funded by the Home Office and overseen by the Civil Aviation Authority and National Air Traffic Services.

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What it will be used for and how will it work alongside manned helicopters. Certainly overdue a little perhaps, as the technology exists and police can have many of these without having to spend on more expensive larger manned helicopters.

It has many advantages, and to give you some context, I remember seeing a US city (LA I think) many years ago and their helicopter pad for the police had like 12 helicopters, in London appears we only have one (at the time perhaps). Or to put it another way, in 2025 there are only 19! These can be rolled out to many and cover many more incidents - Let's see if this happens. Watch this space.

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