UMS Skeldar
Saab’s robot helicopter, born from a Swedish crop-spraying drone and a Swiss start-up, now flies as the CU-176 Gargoyle from Canadian warships and runs on engines from a German firm it bought.
UMS Skeldar: the company and the aircraft that made its name
A Swedish helicopter, a Swiss partner
The Skeldar story began in 2005, when Saab started developing an unmanned helicopter from CybAero’s APID 55. A V-150 version was shown at Eurosatory in Paris in June 2006. In 2009 Saab teamed up with Swiss UAV, a private Swiss drone maker that was bought by Unmanned Systems AG in 2013 and merged into UMS Aero Group in 2014. At the end of 2015 Saab and UMS Aero Group formed UMS Skeldar as a joint venture, with UMS initially the majority partner.
Heavy fuel and Hirth
The company’s product is the Skeldar V-200, a 245 kg rotorcraft that can be ready in under fifteen minutes, fly for more than six hours and operate from a 15 by 15 metre deck. Its heavy-fuel engines come from Hirth, the long-established German light-engine maker which UMS Skeldar bought in 2018, letting the helicopter burn the same jet fuel as the ship it flies from.
Going to sea
Navies are the main customers. Canada flies the V-200 as the CU-176 Gargoyle, and the Netherlands and Belgium chose it for their new mine-countermeasure vessels. Germany selected the V-200B for its K130 corvettes in September 2018 but cancelled the project in July 2024 after delays. Design and production are at Linköping, and the company now calls itself a Saab company.
UMS Skeldar in numbers
A empresa
- Resumidamente
- Formed 2015
- Joint venture of Saab and UMS Aero Group
- Roots in Saab’s 2005 Skeldar programme and Swiss UAV
- Design and production at Linköping
Produção
- Mais conhecido por
- Skeldar V-200
- 245 kg unmanned helicopter
- Earlier types: F-330, F-720, R-350, V-150
Hoje
- Agora
- A Saab company
- Owns German engine maker Hirth since 2018
- Users include Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium
Os números
- Skeldar V-200 maximum take-off weight
- 245 kg
- Skeldar V-200 endurance
- more than 6 hours
Every notable UMS Skeldar aircraft
Photos: Boevaya mashina / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
| Aeronave | Papel | Primeiro voo | Construído | Status | Observação |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UMS Skeldar V-200 | Unmanned VTOL helicopter | Em produção | CU-176 Gargoyle in Canadian service; heavy-fuel Hirth engine | ||
| UMS Skeldar V-150 | Unmanned VTOL helicopter | Em produção | Shown at Eurosatory 2006 | ||
| Swiss UAV F-330 / F-720 | Fixed-wing UAS | Aposentado | |||
| Swiss UAV R-350 | Rotary UAS | Aposentado |
UMS Skeldar aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew UMS Skeldar types. Nenhum deles ainda tem um em serviço.
| Força Aérea | Em serviço | Anteriormente voado |
|---|---|---|
| Aviação Naval Alemã | UMS Skeldar V-200 Sea Falcon |
Where UMS Skeldar built, who led it, what it achieved
Fábricas
- Linköping site · Linköping, Sweden — Headquarters, design and manufacture of the V-200
UMS Skeldar, year by year
Saab begins Skeldar development from CybAero’s APID 55
Skeldar V-150 unveiled at Eurosatory
Swiss UAV partners with Saab
Swiss UAV acquired by Unmanned Systems AG
UMS Aero Group formed
UMS Skeldar joint venture formed by Saab and UMS Aero Group
UMS Skeldar acquires Hirth
German Navy selects V-200B for K130 corvettes
German K130 Skeldar project cancelled
Before and after UMS Skeldar
Everything people ask about UMS Skeldar
Who owns UMS Skeldar?
What is the Skeldar V-200?
Which navies use the Skeldar?
Where is UMS Skeldar based?
Around UMS Skeldar
Todos os fatos foram verificados.
Verificado em 03/10/2026.