Austria is boosting its domestic unmanned aviation portfolio with Schiebel’s new VTOL helicopter drone, a versatile platform designed to operate from both land bases and naval vessels.
The Camcopter S-301 is a 485-kilogram unmanned aerial system powered by a military-grade engine that uses standard NATO aircraft fuel. It offers a payload capacity of up to 110 kilograms, an endurance of up to 10 hours, and an operational ceiling of 5,500 meters.
The drone features a rotor span of roughly 4.8 meters, an airframe length of about 4.7 meters, and a height of approximately 1.8 meters.
Schiebel says the S-301 can be launched directly from ships or vehicles without dedicated launch systems, enabling rapid deployment in austere or contested environments. Its modular design allows operators to switch quickly between ISR and strike configurations with minimal downtime.
Revealed at UMEX 2026, the S-301 is the latest, weapon-capable iteration of the Camcopter S-300 family. At the event, the drone was displayed carrying two Thales FZ602 rocket pods on reinforced wing stubs, each loaded with seven FZ275 laser-guided rockets.
Beyond strike missions, the platform can carry a variety of payloads, including electro-optical/infrared sensors, maritime and wide-area surveillance radars, and electronic warfare systems. The S-301 also supports fully autonomous operations, featuring automatic takeoff and landing, dynamic mission retasking, emergency return-to-base capability, and redundant navigation and safety systems to ensure safe recovery.
