The Patroller long-endurance drone by Sagem performed successfully in recent homeland security tests held in Portugal as part of a European Commission project.

The French company said that in the AIRBEAM project, Patroller was operated as part of a response coordination and control unit in full-scale simulations of missions such as intrusion, convoying, surveillance of high-value sites, fire surveillance and more.

The test was conducted in civil airspace from the Beja Air Base and was controlled by Sagem in scenarios defined by the Portuguese National Guard and Air Force.

"The Patroller's overall performance and advanced imaging system provides very high resolution images to identify and precisely locate threats and risks," Sagem said. "It has also demonstrated an ability to be deployed at short notice, plus operational flexibility and security."

AIRBEAM is a project, within the scope of the EC's FP7/Security program to develop a management system for large-scale crises and to validate the system through operational demonstrations.

AIRBEAM calls on the operation of several intelligence platforms -- unmanned aerial systems, balloons, satellites -- to meet these goals, with information processed in real time by a coordination unit.

Patroller is a modularly designed unmanned aerial system. It can carry a multi-sensor payload of as much as 551 pounds. Its endurance is more than 20 hours of flight.

German police get first of six Airbus helos
Donauworth, Germany (UPI) Oct 20, 2015 - Law enforcement officials in one of Germany's largest states have taken delivery of the first of six police-configured H145 aircraft from Airbus Helicopters.

The H145 is a twin-engine utility helicopter with a cruise speed of 153 miles per hour and a range of 426 miles.

The federal-state police in Baden-Wurttenberg took delivery of the aircraft at Airbus' facility at Donauwörth.

"Now entering service for law enforcement operations, the Police Baden-Württemberg will be using the H145's capabilities for its most challenging missions" said Wolfgang Schoder, chief executive officer of Airbus Helicopters in Germany. "In line with our company's commitment to customer satisfaction, we have set up a dedicated logistic team available 24/7 to support mission execution of Police Baden-Württemberg."

The H145 features all-in-one mission capabilities, including deployment of Special Forces units, VIP transport, external load, and observation and reconnaissance. Its primary surveillance mission is supported by forward-looking infrared and daylight cameras controlled by an onboard operator who also handles communications and data exchange with ground-based police resources.

The helicopter features Arriel 2E engines and a Fenestron shrouded tail rotor and a digital avionics suite with a four-axis autopilot.