A UK military team is testing a portable reconnaissance drone set to be operationalized by the end of this year.
The Stalker VXE30 was put through 20 hours of rigorous trials under challenging weather conditions at Royal Navy Air Station Predannack in Cornwall as part of the Lockheed Martin drone’s capability acceptance.
“The Reiver series, as a vital part of Project Tiquila, is the latest in a series of important [test and evaluation)\] trials as part of the wider Tiquila enterprise,” Defence Equipment and Support’s Hannah Haggett explained.
“It is crucial we provide the military with cutting-edge capabilities now but also equipment that can be continually upgraded to keep pace with emerging threats in an ever-evolving, demanding battlespace.
“Testing early and appropriately will underpin both capabilities and from the evidence generated from the trials thus far, the equipment is high quality and is performing as expected.”
264 Mini Drones
The Stalker is one of two mini drones the UK Ministry of Defence purchased in December 2022 for 129 million pounds ($157 million).
The Project Tiquila acquisition includes a total of 105 fixed-wing Stalkers and 159 rotary-wing Indago 4 drones to replace the British Army’s Desert Hawk 3 mini drones.
The drones will allow users to accurately locate targets at multiple ranges across a range of environments and conditions.
Stalker, Indago 4
The 20-kilogram (44-pound) vertically-launched Stalker has a wingspan of 4.88 meters (16 feet) and a low acoustic signature.
It is capable of imaging operations for a duration of eight hours and a range of 60 miles (97 kilometers).
A much smaller Indago 4 weighs just 2.27 kilograms (5 pounds) and can be carried in a backpack.
It features a high-resolution camera system with exceptional zoom capability to identify people, objects, vehicles, and weapons, in both day and night conditions.
Its deployment time is two minutes and it has a range of eight miles (13 kilometers).
Both platforms are being assessed by a team of experts from 744 Naval Air Squadron, Air & Space Warfare Centre, and Defence Equipment and Support the Tiquila Delivery Team.