An unmanned EC145 has flown at the French Air Force base in Istres, France. Eurocopter is using the helicopter to validate its optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) demonstration program.
The OPV flight capability was developed in an internally-funded Eurocopter program, and was coordinated by a team at the company’s Donauwörth, Germany facility. Initial tests with a monitoring pilot aboard the EC145 were flown from Donauwörth and then at Istres.
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