U.K. Army to Induct Ukraine-tested Tekever Reconnaissance Drones

The British Army will receive new Tekever AR5 reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles to replace ageing Watchkeeper systems.

The Tekever drones were earlier tested in Ukraine and are reported to have delivered good performance.

 Under a deal worth up to £400 million over 10 years, the initial order is for six AR5 drones, with the option to increase to 24 by 2029, the British Ministry of Defense reported.

The AR5 is a Portuguese-British medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft developed by Tekever for maritime and land surveillance, search and rescue, and patrol missions.

The history of the AR5 drone family began in the 2010s with a focus on civilian and military monitoring of long borders, in particular within the missions of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

The AR5 UAV is capable of transporting up to 50 kg of payload in the form of optoelectronic stations, radars, and sensors.

The new systems are expected to begin testing and entering service by the end of this year, and their production will be deployed at the company's new factory in Swindon.