The Skeye Hook can support a load of 250 kg. (Janes/Amael Kotlarski)
The Skeye Hook – a remote controlled grappling hook – was displayed for the first time at the SOFINS 2023 defence exhibition held near Bordeaux, France.
The brainchild of an active-duty French navy commando, the concept marries the functionality of a grappling hook with the flying abilities of a small unmanned aircraft system. Built with the assistance of French manufacturer Drone Act, the Skeye Hook is essentially a quadcopter design and features four claws. Each claw can support 250 kg, well over the weight a fully equipped commando. The system has a control range of 12 km and an endurance of 4 minutes.
The operating concept is for boarding parties to be able to deploy the Skeye Hook once they are near an objective. Traditionally, grappling hooks would be fired using compressed air, which is both noisy and less accurate. The Skeye Hook would enable operators to secure their climbing line with greater accuracy and discretion, and potentially at much greater heights than other systems.
Currently in it first iteration, the Skeye Hook was tested by French navy commandos and reportedly received positive feedback. Benefiting from French Ministry of Armed Forces funding, the creator of Skeye Hook intends to further refine the design based on user feedback, while potentially increasing the performance of the system.
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