MOD awards 3 UK SMEs £16 million for 1,000+ ISR drones

UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard has announced the first contracts for ‘Recce-Strike’ drones for the British Army.

The milestone was announced with a speech on the first day of the Defence Vehicle Demonstration (DVD) 2026 exhibition in Milbrook last week.

Recce-Strike is a modern military doctrine that combines rapid reconnaissance, digital networking, and precision long-range weapons to find and destroy targets faster than the enemy.

These newly contracted drones range from small and easy-to-use drones to larger remotely operated aircraft.

Over 1,025 small drones are being delivered as part of a £16 million deal with three UK-based small and medium-sized companies. A Government statement added that deliveries are nearing completion.

The three small drone contracts were delivered by the UK’s National Armaments Director Group and are part of Project Rapstone.

Rapstone is the Army’s effort to deliver new technology to soldiers faster and double its fighter power by 2027. It seeks to deliver new equipment from industry to the frontline within 24 months.

The new contract also awards worth up to £400 million to TEKEVER to bring its much larger AR5 drone into service.

Which drones is the British Army buying and what can they do?

These small drones include 245 FOXE-NATO drones produced by Evolve Dynamics, a company based in Hampshire. These drones weigh less than 250g and come with dual 4K electro-optical/infrared cameras for use at night. They have an endurance of around 35 minutes

The bulk of the small drones are the 670 Skydio X10 INTL drones provided by Marlborough Communications Limited in Surrey. Those drones can be ready to fly in less than a minute and can reach speeds of up to 45mph. They carry high-resolution visual and radiometric cameras in modular sensor packages.

The third type is made up to the 110 SONORA drones. These are produced by a partnership between Brigantes Consulting in Exeter and Harattan AI in Texas. SONORA drones are designed to help train soldiers before they use similar drones in real operations.

Meanwhile, the UK is initially ordering six TEKEVER AR5 drones, with the number rising to 24 by 2029. Those drones are built in Swindon and have already seen combat in Ukraine against Russia. TEKEVER is a Portugal-based company with a significant UK footprint.

Recce-Strike and how it’s modernising the British Army

Traditionally, Recce-Strike had been the preserve of longer-range capabilities like artillery and aviation, where infantry formations had very limited ability to perform it. But the proliferation of drones has fundamentally changed this.

The Salisbury Recce-Strike complex is used to experiment with how fast formations can reconnoitre a target and then strike it. The dramatic compression in this sequence is one of the most important takeaways from Ukraine.

The UK’s Experimentation and Trials Group (ETG) has been experimenting with drones for the last few years. Among the efforts are experiments at the lowest tactical level on the Salisbury Plain Training Area at the recce-strike complex.

In 2024, the British Army reported that soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Yorkshire Regiment had been experimenting with tactics being used in Ukraine.

This includes lower infantry formations (platoons, companies, battle groups) being subject to scenarios where they also have to consider a drone-infested environment.