Overview
- The Ministry of Defence announced Saturday that it has selected the Tekever AR5 under a programme worth up to £400 million with an initial six-aircraft order and up to 24 deliverable by 2029, subject to contract signature and final approvals.
- The AR5 is a fixed-wing tactical surveillance drone that can carry up to 50 kg of sensors, offers longer endurance than Watchkeeper, and has documented operational use in Ukraine and in UK maritime patrols of the English Channel.
- Tekever says the AR5 for the UK will be built at its soon-to-open Swindon plant and the MOD says the full contract will sustain and create hundreds of jobs at Tekever’s UK sites.
- The MOD frames the purchase as a move to sustain sovereign intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability through Tekever’s CORVUS programme, which aims to deliver ongoing autonomy and sensor upgrades.
- The decision formalises the end of the troubled Watchkeeper era, a Thales/Elbit-derived system that entered service in 2014 after delays and testing incidents, and signals the Army’s shift to a higher-endurance tactical ISR solution.