Defence & Security Industry News - Schiebel

Schiebel has been awarded a contract by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to support the body's work monitoring the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine using its Camcopter S-100 unmanned air vehicle (UAV).

Schiebel Camcopter S-100 unmanned aerial vehicle

Signed on 13 August, the contract will see two of the vertical take-off and landing UAVs, alongside a ground control station, deployed to the eastern European nation in support of the OSCE’s special monitoring mission (SMM) to Ukraine.

Austria is ready to boost its efforts within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and provide drones to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine in order to control the situation in the country’s east, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Monday.

“Our mission is not only to support peaceful settlement through the provision of Austrian observers within the OSCE, but also to provide 10 Austrian UAVs that would allow controlling the conflict territories and accelerating the process of peaceful settlement,” the Austrian foreign minister said, as quoted on the Ukrainian President’s official website.

The statement was made during Kurz’s meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev earlier in the day. According to the Austrian diplomat, his country is also increasing its medical assistance to Ukraine, which will target as a priority seriously wounded civilians in the eastern regions.

“It is symbolic that Austria, as well as the entire EU, is with us in such a difficult situation,” Poroshenko said in turn, expressing gratitude for the assistance Austria is providing Ukraine.

Poroshenko expressed hope that in the near future the number of OSCE monitors will be increased, with Austrian experts joining in the efforts.

On September 13, Poroshenko gave the OSCE the go-ahead for the use of drones during its observer operations in Ukraine.