The Patroller is a French medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed and manufactured by Safran Electronics & Defense (formerly by SAGEM). The airframe is based on the Stemme ASP S15 motor glider.
The first flight was in June 2009 at Kemijarvi in Finland; it was shown at the 2009 Paris Air Show.[1] The Patroller is a Medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (MALE) by the definition of the NATO.[2]
It completed another series of flight tests in July 2010, which demonstrated it is capable of missions lasting 20–30 hours; it can carry a 250 kg payload (including 80 kg under each wing).[3] The Patroller will carry out imaging and surveillance trials in southern France, detecting forest fires.[4]
The Patroller uses the same ground control station as Sperwer II. A Ku-band datalink is used; range is limited to 200 km (line of sight).[1]
Safran Electronics & Defense and Egyptian aircraft factory AOI have signed a collaboration agreement concerning the Patroller UAV. AOI-Aircraft Factory could handle final assembly of the drones and will develop a dedicated training center in Egypt to train staff for the operation and maintenance of the drone systems.[5]