A fleet of high-tech Tekever AR5 surveillance drones, capable of speeds up to 60mph and able to see through smoke, clouds, and in darkness, is being acquired by the UK government for £400 million. The drones weigh around 50kg, measure over 7 metres in length, and have a maximum flight time of 20 hours. They can track moving vehicles and are intended for search and rescue, border and maritime patrol, and land surveillance.
Contract and Production
According to the Department of Defence, the investment will initially fund six drones to keep troops safe through round-the-clock intelligence gathering. A total of 29 models are planned to be built and operational by 2029, at an average cost of over £13 million per drone. Production will take place at a site in Swindon, which officials hope will boost the reindustrialisation of industry in the area.
Official Statements
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: "This investment will support our troops on deployment, while driving re-industrialisation and backing British innovation." He added that the full contract will sustain and create hundreds of jobs at Tekever’s UK sites, reinforcing defence’s role in the UK’s growing defence and technology sector. The new AR5, Streeting noted, has already been trialled in Ukraine's war with Russia, offering improved endurance, sensor capability, and reliability to maintain a battle-winning edge in surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
Industry Perspective
Tekever UK’s Managing Director Karl Brew stated: "[This] represents a major step change in delivering cutting edge autonomy to the British Army. This isn’t about a platform, it’s about building and sustaining sovereign capability that stays one step ahead of our adversaries." He added that TEKEVER aims to create a new type of partnership between government and industry to ensure a constant cycle of capability evolution delivering decisive advantage to end users.
