Overview

• On July 24, the British Army and allied forces began testing Germany’s Alpine Eagle Sentinel and Helsing’s HX-2 loitering munitions across multiple NATO countries.
• Both systems have already been used in frontline operations in Ukraine, providing early performance data under combat conditions.
• The Sentinel system deploys a “mothership” drone to launch expendable interceptors, while the HX-2 features a modular AI-driven design with up to 100 km range and a 4 kg warhead.
• These evaluations form part of Project Vanaheim and the UK’s Strategic Defence Review, which allocated £100 million for drone swarm research and has deployed 3 000 strike and 1 000 surveillance drones.
• Trial outcomes are due by year-end and will guide decisions on fielding new loitering munitions and counter-UAV systems across NATO forces.