Apache support drones get £10m boost

Image courtesy Anduril

Project NYX is the British Army’s concept demonstrator programme to develop Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS), capable of operating as ‘loyal wingmen’ to Apache crews across a range of missions.

These will include reconnaissance, precision strike, target acquisition and electronic warfare in contested environments.

The drones will be fully autonomous with Apache pilots benefitting from the information they are providing, without needing to control them directly. All decisions which result in the use of weapons will continue to be made by a human.

Four industry  partners – Anduril, BAE Systems, Tekever and Thales – have been offered contracts and chosen from a competitive field to develop the autonomous technology.

Their proposals include a variety of uncrewed air systems, each offering innovative autonomy, payloads and sensors.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is planning to work with the four partners over the coming months to assess each design, with the intention of taking up to two of the strongest contenders forward to the next phase.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, said: "This is British ingenuity at its best – cutting-edge drones working alongside Apache helicopters to give our soldiers an unbeatable advantage on the battlefield.

"The UK isn’t just keeping up with the future of warfare, we’re driving it.

"This government said it would act with urgency to strengthen our defences and back British industry and that is exactly what we are doing – investing now in the capabilities our Armed Forces will need to stay ahead of our adversaries and keep this country safe."

The four shortlisted industry partners are:

• Anduril Industries (UK) Ltd
• BAE Systems Operations Ltd
• Tekever Ltd
• Thales UK Ltd

Project NYX shows how the MoD is delivering on the strategic defence review, which placed a high importance on autonomous technology for the armed forces. It is an army aviation focused project, being delivered in conjunction with UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) as the delivery agent. This builds and takes advantage of early funding and development work carried out by their team and is one of the first steps towards greater British Army autonomy. UKDI is supporting the project, providing specialist delivery, commercial, engineering and safety expertise.

Up to two companies will be selected in Autumn 2026 to build prototype designs. If the prototype designs prove successful, the aim is to field an operational variant for use by 2030.