Overview
- HMS Queen Elizabeth carried out rail launches of four British‑designed Nyan one‑way effector drones during North Atlantic trials and industry reported all four reached their programmed strike points.
- Nyan is made in Wiltshire by Callen‑Lenz, uses a pneumatic rail launch, a microturbine engine, a 2.9‑metre wingspan and a modular bay with a reported range above 250 km.
- The trials were run under Project VANTAGE alongside Heavy Lift Challenge activity that saw a Tekever AR5 operate and land on the carrier to demonstrate ISTAR and logistics roles.
- Officials and analysts stress these events are experimental proof‑points rather than an operational capability because they do not show performance against defended targets or solutions for mass storage, rapid preparation, survivability and fleet integration.
- The Ministry of Defence has already bought Nyan under a small contract and the type is on the UK Military Aircraft Register, and further trials will inform decisions about procurement, deployment scale and how to embed uncrewed systems in a future hybrid carrier air wing.