The Italian Navy is conducting a series of technical and tactical evaluations on the Camcopter S-100 remotely-piloted aircraft by Scheibel of Austria.
The testing comes on the heels of the rotorcraft drone completing tests in the North Sea by the Netherlands.
The Camcopter S-100 has a top speed of 138 mph, a range of 112 miles and is designed for military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and for civilian tasks such as search and rescue and disaster relief.
The Italian Navy is testing the vehicle from its San Giusto amphibious warfare ship. The vehicle set was leased from Schiebel and consists of two aircraft, a piloting unit and a control station.
The navy said the sea trials have to date evaluated the vehicle's interoperability with the ship, its takeoff and landing capabilities and sensor capabilities.
Tests also involved measuring noise levels and its optical visibility parameters.
Additional details were not immediately available.