Role & capabilities
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Reconnaissance aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- UMS SKELDAR
- Origin / production countries
- Sweden / Switzerland
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- V-200 baseline; Customer-specific maritime configurations; Belgian–Dutch naval configuration: 2025 operator baseline
- Operators / programme customers
- Belgian Navy; Royal Netherlands Navy — training and integration programme
Evidence & current status
Published performance is supplier-reported and configuration dependent; operational use does not independently validate every specification.
SKELDAR V-200 is an uncrewed helicopter developed for maritime and land missions. Its manufacturer describes multiple sensor and communications-relay fits and a heavy-fuel engine. The industrial programme has Swedish and Swiss roots; an operating navy should not be counted as a country of origin simply because it procures the aircraft.
Belgian Defence documented training flights in December 2025 and described a planned fleet expansion within the Belgian–Dutch mine-countermeasures programme. That establishes aircraft use and programme progress, but not completion of every planned ship integration. The Netherlands also published details of joint training and the intended naval role.
There are meaningful differences between older generic brochures and current operator descriptions. The 2021 manufacturer brochure lists 235 kg maximum take-off mass and more than five hours endurance. Belgium's 2025 account describes an approximately 250 kg aircraft with up to four hours depending on payload. Both baselines are preserved here. They should not be blended, and an old German acquisition announcement should not be treated as proof of an unchanged current German programme.
The Dutch May 2025 programme account also specifies a payload allowance of up to forty kilograms and a planned optical/infrared plus LiDAR fit. Those details belong to the naval programme description. The article’s anticipated 2026 ship introduction is retained as a plan, pending confirmation of completed acceptance.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Uncrewed single-main-rotor helicopter | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Launch / recovery | Automatic vertical take-off and landing | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Propulsion | Heavy-fuel engine | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Dimensions | 2021 brochure: 4.6 m rotor diameter; approximately 4 m airframe length; 1.3 m height | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Mass | 2021 brochure: 235 kg MTOW; Belgian 2025 aircraft described as approximately 250 kg | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Endurance | Belgian configuration: up to four hours, payload dependent | Older 2021 brochure advertises 5+ hours; configurations must remain distinct. Source ↗ |
| Range | 2021 brochure: 100 or 200 km data-link options | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Speed | 2021 brochure: 140 km/h maximum | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Altitude | 2021 brochure: 3,000 m ceiling | Manufacturer-published specification; maximum values are not necessarily simultaneous. Source ↗ |
| Payload | Up to 40 kg in the Dutch May 2025 programme account | Dutch programme baseline; not assumed with every stated endurance maximum. Source ↗ |
| Sensors | Dutch programme: EO/IR and LiDAR integration planned | May 2025 planned fit; completed ship acceptance is not established. Source ↗ |
| Communications / navigation | Naval communications-relay role; up to 100 km operator-listed radius | Dutch 2025 baseline, separate from older supplier options. Source ↗ |
Documented milestones
Belgian training flights reported
Belgian Defence described its first training flights and planned expansion from two aircraft to ten.
Read the announcement ↗
Publication history
- — Filled naval payload and sensor/control gaps from the official programme account.
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
Suggest a correction to this entry →
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- V-200 technical brochure, 2021 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- Belgian training and fleet plans, 17 December 2025 (opens in a new tab)Government / military
- Dutch naval programme profile, 20 May 2025 (opens in a new tab)Government / military