EU Maritime Safety Agency Selects Airbus Flexrotor VTOL Drone to Advance Coastal Monitoring
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On 17 December 2025, the European Maritime Safety Agency selected Airbus’s Flexrotor drone under a new maritime surveillance contract. The decision gives EU coast guards shared, real-time aerial coverage as demands grow to monitor migration, illegal fishing, pollution, and maritime crime.
On 17 December 2025, Airbus announced that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has selected its Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system under a new maritime surveillance framework contract. This decision marks the first operational deployment of the Flexrotor in Europe and comes as EU coast guards face growing pressure to monitor vast sea areas affected by irregular migration, illegal fishing, environmental incidents and maritime crime. By centralising these drone services at EMSA level, the European Union is seeking to give national authorities a shared, real-time aerial picture of their maritime approaches. For member states and neighbouring countries, the move signals a shift towards routine use of tactical drones as a core element of coast guard operations rather than a niche experimental capability.
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Airbus’s Flexrotor is a compact VTOL uncrewed aircraft that can operate from small ship decks and deliver long-endurance maritime surveillance with electro-optical and infrared sensors (Picture Source: Airbus)
Under the framework, valued at €30 million (around $35 million), Airbus will provide Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) services using the Flexrotor for multipurpose maritime surveillance on behalf of EMSA. The contract covers a two-year initial period with options for two additional one-year extensions, allowing services to run for up to four years, with operations due to begin in 2026 and carried out by French service provider Extensee. The core package includes flight operations delivering electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imagery and radar data, streamed in real time to the EMSA RPAS Data Centre so that national coast guard authorities and relevant EU institutions can follow missions live. The Flexrotor services will be available to the competent authorities of EU member states as well as Norway and Iceland, with the possibility of two parallel deployments from different take-off sites and the option to add additional detachments if EMSA requires them. According to EMSA, these missions are intended to support search and rescue, fisheries control, environmental protection and the detection of illicit activities at sea, thereby reinforcing national coast guards with a shared European asset pool.
The Flexrotor fits into the “Group 2” category of small tactical vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft systems. It has a maximum launch weight of 25 kg, a wingspan of around 3 metres and a rotor diameter of 2.2 metres, and can carry up to 8 kg of payload. Powered by a compact 28 cc two-stroke engine, the drone can reach dash speeds of about 140 km/h and typically remain airborne for 12 to 14 hours, with endurance in the EMSA configuration expected to be around 10 hours to match the chosen sensor suite and mission profile. Its main mission set is intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), supported by EO/IR sensors and radar, but the airframe is designed to be payload-agnostic, able to host other advanced sensors depending on customer requirements. One of its key features for maritime operators is the ability to autonomously launch and recover from either land or sea using only a 3.7 by 3.7 metre area, enabling operations from small piers, austere coastal sites or ships without flight decks, and allowing the system to go from stowed configuration to take-off in under half an hour.
The EMSA contract builds on a growing track record for Flexrotor in demanding maritime environments. Airbus highlights that the system has flown numerous demonstration sorties across Europe, showing its long endurance and ability to carry a variety of payloads for different customers. Earlier in 2025, the French Navy completed a three-day campaign with Flexrotor from a small patrol vessel off the northwest coast of France, logging more than 12 flight hours by day and night and validating autonomous take-off and landing on a moving deck under the PERSEUS innovation initiative. Outside Europe, Airbus has described how Flexrotor supported a high-impact maritime interdiction in June 2025 under the MARLINS task order, working with U.S. Southern Command and Mexican law-enforcement agencies to track a low-profile vessel suspected of narcotics trafficking and to provide continuous real-time overwatch to the boarding forces. Industry material further notes that the system has accumulated thousands of flight hours worldwide, is manufactured at Airbus facilities in Bingen, Washington, and benefits from a dedicated UAS support team and Airbus’ wider logistics network, indicating a fairly mature industrial and sustainment base behind the platform.
From a tactical perspective, EMSA’s choice of a small VTOL drone with this endurance profile responds directly to the operational needs of European coast guards. The ability to maintain a sensor payload in the air for around 10 hours in EMSA configuration, coupled with EO/IR and radar feeds piped directly into a central data centre, gives national operators the capacity to monitor a broad sea area with far greater persistence than manned helicopters or patrol aircraft, which are constrained by crew duty limits and higher sortie costs. The very small launch footprint means that a Flexrotor detachment can follow the fleet: embarked on patrol craft, quickly moved between coastal stations, or deployed to remote islands where building runway infrastructure would be prohibitively expensive. The system’s open payload architecture also offers the possibility of integrating signals-intelligence, communications relay or specialised maritime sensors in the future, which could, for example, help detect dark ships operating without AIS, monitor protected marine areas or relay communications between dispersed units. For crews at sea, real-time video and radar data shared with shore-based command centres should support faster decision-making during search and rescue incidents, pollution response and law-enforcement operations.
The Flexrotor framework reflects a wider European trend towards pooled, service-based unmanned capabilities rather than purely national procurement of individual systems. By centralising funding at EMSA level and making the service available to EU member states, Norway and Iceland, the €30 million contract allows smaller maritime nations to access high-end drone surveillance without having to build their own RPAS infrastructure from scratch, while creating a common technical standard for data sharing via the EMSA RPAS Data Centre. Spread over the potential four-year duration and multiple parallel detachments, the framework’s value remains relatively modest in defence-budget terms but can deliver a disproportionate effect if it improves early detection of irregular migration routes, illegal fishing, pollution events or cross-border smuggling activities across the North Atlantic, Baltic, North Sea and Mediterranean basins.
The reliance on a French service provider, Extensee, and the integration of Flexrotor into EMSA’s toolbox also underline the role of European industry and specialised SMEs in building a layered maritime surveillance architecture that ranges from satellites and long-range patrol aircraft down to small tactical drones embarked on patrol craft. In a security environment shaped by contested seas, pressure on critical undersea and energy infrastructure, and persistent grey-zone activity, such a modular, scalable drone service gives the EU an additional instrument to generate a shared, near-real-time maritime picture.
EMSA’s selection of Flexrotor marks an important step in normalising unmanned aircraft as a routine asset for European coast guards rather than a technology demonstrator. The framework contract gives member states, Norway and Iceland access to a mature, long-endurance VTOL system capable of operating from small ships or austere coastal sites, while the EMSA RPAS Data Centre ensures that the imagery and radar data it collects can be exploited collectively and not just by the launching unit. As operations ramp up from 2026, the performance of Flexrotor detachments under this contract is likely to shape future EU thinking on how far service-based RPAS models can be extended to other domains, from border surveillance to environmental monitoring and even defence-related maritime security tasks.
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On 17 December 2025, the European Maritime Safety Agency selected Airbus’s Flexrotor drone under a new maritime surveillance contract. The decision gives EU coast guards shared, real-time aerial coverage as demands grow to monitor migration, illegal fishing, pollution, and maritime crime.
On 17 December 2025, Airbus announced that the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has selected its Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system under a new maritime surveillance framework contract. This decision marks the first operational deployment of the Flexrotor in Europe and comes as EU coast guards face growing pressure to monitor vast sea areas affected by irregular migration, illegal fishing, environmental incidents and maritime crime. By centralising these drone services at EMSA level, the European Union is seeking to give national authorities a shared, real-time aerial picture of their maritime approaches. For member states and neighbouring countries, the move signals a shift towards routine use of tactical drones as a core element of coast guard operations rather than a niche experimental capability.
Airbus’s Flexrotor is a compact VTOL uncrewed aircraft that can operate from small ship decks and deliver long-endurance maritime surveillance with electro-optical and infrared sensors (Picture Source: Airbus)
Under the framework, valued at €30 million (around $35 million), Airbus will provide Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) services using the Flexrotor for multipurpose maritime surveillance on behalf of EMSA. The contract covers a two-year initial period with options for two additional one-year extensions, allowing services to run for up to four years, with operations due to begin in 2026 and carried out by French service provider Extensee. The core package includes flight operations delivering electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imagery and radar data, streamed in real time to the EMSA RPAS Data Centre so that national coast guard authorities and relevant EU institutions can follow missions live. The Flexrotor services will be available to the competent authorities of EU member states as well as Norway and Iceland, with the possibility of two parallel deployments from different take-off sites and the option to add additional detachments if EMSA requires them. According to EMSA, these missions are intended to support search and rescue, fisheries control, environmental protection and the detection of illicit activities at sea, thereby reinforcing national coast guards with a shared European asset pool.
The Flexrotor fits into the “Group 2” category of small tactical vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft systems. It has a maximum launch weight of 25 kg, a wingspan of around 3 metres and a rotor diameter of 2.2 metres, and can carry up to 8 kg of payload. Powered by a compact 28 cc two-stroke engine, the drone can reach dash speeds of about 140 km/h and typically remain airborne for 12 to 14 hours, with endurance in the EMSA configuration expected to be around 10 hours to match the chosen sensor suite and mission profile. Its main mission set is intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR), supported by EO/IR sensors and radar, but the airframe is designed to be payload-agnostic, able to host other advanced sensors depending on customer requirements. One of its key features for maritime operators is the ability to autonomously launch and recover from either land or sea using only a 3.7 by 3.7 metre area, enabling operations from small piers, austere coastal sites or ships without flight decks, and allowing the system to go from stowed configuration to take-off in under half an hour.
The EMSA contract builds on a growing track record for Flexrotor in demanding maritime environments. Airbus highlights that the system has flown numerous demonstration sorties across Europe, showing its long endurance and ability to carry a variety of payloads for different customers. Earlier in 2025, the French Navy completed a three-day campaign with Flexrotor from a small patrol vessel off the northwest coast of France, logging more than 12 flight hours by day and night and validating autonomous take-off and landing on a moving deck under the PERSEUS innovation initiative. Outside Europe, Airbus has described how Flexrotor supported a high-impact maritime interdiction in June 2025 under the MARLINS task order, working with U.S. Southern Command and Mexican law-enforcement agencies to track a low-profile vessel suspected of narcotics trafficking and to provide continuous real-time overwatch to the boarding forces. Industry material further notes that the system has accumulated thousands of flight hours worldwide, is manufactured at Airbus facilities in Bingen, Washington, and benefits from a dedicated UAS support team and Airbus’ wider logistics network, indicating a fairly mature industrial and sustainment base behind the platform.
From a tactical perspective, EMSA’s choice of a small VTOL drone with this endurance profile responds directly to the operational needs of European coast guards. The ability to maintain a sensor payload in the air for around 10 hours in EMSA configuration, coupled with EO/IR and radar feeds piped directly into a central data centre, gives national operators the capacity to monitor a broad sea area with far greater persistence than manned helicopters or patrol aircraft, which are constrained by crew duty limits and higher sortie costs. The very small launch footprint means that a Flexrotor detachment can follow the fleet: embarked on patrol craft, quickly moved between coastal stations, or deployed to remote islands where building runway infrastructure would be prohibitively expensive. The system’s open payload architecture also offers the possibility of integrating signals-intelligence, communications relay or specialised maritime sensors in the future, which could, for example, help detect dark ships operating without AIS, monitor protected marine areas or relay communications between dispersed units. For crews at sea, real-time video and radar data shared with shore-based command centres should support faster decision-making during search and rescue incidents, pollution response and law-enforcement operations.
The Flexrotor framework reflects a wider European trend towards pooled, service-based unmanned capabilities rather than purely national procurement of individual systems. By centralising funding at EMSA level and making the service available to EU member states, Norway and Iceland, the €30 million contract allows smaller maritime nations to access high-end drone surveillance without having to build their own RPAS infrastructure from scratch, while creating a common technical standard for data sharing via the EMSA RPAS Data Centre. Spread over the potential four-year duration and multiple parallel detachments, the framework’s value remains relatively modest in defence-budget terms but can deliver a disproportionate effect if it improves early detection of irregular migration routes, illegal fishing, pollution events or cross-border smuggling activities across the North Atlantic, Baltic, North Sea and Mediterranean basins.
The reliance on a French service provider, Extensee, and the integration of Flexrotor into EMSA’s toolbox also underline the role of European industry and specialised SMEs in building a layered maritime surveillance architecture that ranges from satellites and long-range patrol aircraft down to small tactical drones embarked on patrol craft. In a security environment shaped by contested seas, pressure on critical undersea and energy infrastructure, and persistent grey-zone activity, such a modular, scalable drone service gives the EU an additional instrument to generate a shared, near-real-time maritime picture.
EMSA’s selection of Flexrotor marks an important step in normalising unmanned aircraft as a routine asset for European coast guards rather than a technology demonstrator. The framework contract gives member states, Norway and Iceland access to a mature, long-endurance VTOL system capable of operating from small ships or austere coastal sites, while the EMSA RPAS Data Centre ensures that the imagery and radar data it collects can be exploited collectively and not just by the launching unit. As operations ramp up from 2026, the performance of Flexrotor detachments under this contract is likely to shape future EU thinking on how far service-based RPAS models can be extended to other domains, from border surveillance to environmental monitoring and even defence-related maritime security tasks.
