The British Army is to benefit from new portable and packable drones to provide intelligence behind enemy lines. A £129 million initial contract has been awarded by the Ministry of Defence to deliver drones to the Armed Forces, of which 99 Stalker and 15 Indago models will be used by the Army.
The Mini Uncrewed Air Systems (MUAS), produced by Lockheed Martin, will be used by British Army and Strategic Command for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) on the front line and deep into enemy territory.
The portable drone will be the Stalker, an operationally proven small, near-silent drone, that provides unprecedented long-endurance imaging capability in a variety of contested environments and is in use by Special Forces around the world. It weighs less than 20kg.
The packable drone – small enough to be carried in a backpack – is the Indago, which weighs less than 8kg and can be deployed in approximately two minutes.