Farnborough, United Kingdom. Airbus Helicopters’ tactical uncrewed aerial system U030 Flexrotor has officially started maritime surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea on behalf of the European Maritime Security Agency (EMSA). In December 2025, Airbus Helicopters was awarded a €30 million framework contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to provide Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) services for multipurpose maritime surveillance across the European Union, with sub-contractor operator Extensee. Operations started after a series of successful test flights to validate technical and regulatory milestones ahead of the entry into service, and to support operator handover to Extensee.
The first operational deployment began in July in the Baltic region (covering Estonia, Latvia and Finland), marking the entry into service of the U030 Flexrotor under EMSA service and supporting national authorities with maritime surveillance.
“We are pleased to see the U030 Flexrotor begin operational service under the EMSA framework, marking its first operational deployment in Europe and supporting the critical mission of enhancing maritime surveillance,” said Victor Gerin-Roze, Head of Uncrewed Aerial Systems at Airbus Helicopters. “The start of operations in the Baltics demonstrates its ability to operate effectively in diverse maritime theatres while supporting critical coast guard functions. Through this contract, we contribute to protecting Europe and strengthening its sovereignty, and we take pride in this commitment.”
The service provides operational intelligence gathered through Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) and radar payloads, streamed in real time to the EMSA RPAS Data Centre. This enables participating national authorities to follow missions live and integrate actionable information into their operational workflows.
The system supports coast guard functions including search and rescue, fisheries control, environmental monitoring, and the detection of illicit maritime activity.
The management and coordination of the RPAS operations is done by Airbus Helicopters under the EMSA framework for deployment in multiple simultaneous operations across participating countries, and the U030 Flexrotor is operated by service provider Extensee.
