BAE Systems develops weaponised drone to counter unmanned threat

By Sarah Young

WARTON, England (Reuters) -BAE Systems said on Wednesday it was developing a new weaponised drone, aiming to offer military customers a lower-cost option for countering unmanned aircraft that have come to dominate the battlefield in Ukraine.

Britain's BAE launched its solution to the threat from kamikaze attack drones, which explode when they hit targets, by fitting its Malloy T-150 drone with APKWS laser-guidance kit that fires 70-millimeter rockets, and used the combination to shoot down another drone in trials.

"We've had multiple inquiries from agencies in the U.S., from agencies in Europe, from the UK," said Anthony Gregory, business development director of BAE Systems' FalconWorks unit.

Given the growing military interest as countries see what is happening in Ukraine, and also Iran's deployment of drones against Israel, BAE said it wanted to supply an alternative to Raytheon Technologies Patriot mobile surface-to-air system.

"Those type of munitions are probably in four or five figure sums, whereas a Patriot missile, or things that you see being used on the news to do the same thing, are in six figure sums," Gregory said.

The weapon system can be removed from the drone within an hour, enabling the drone to be repurposed to supply cargo or to perform reconnaissance. It is already used by the U.S. Marines and Britain's Royal Navy to move equipment between ships at sea, replacing some helicopter lifts.

BAE acquired England-based Malloy Aeronautics, a specialist heavy-lift drone company, last year. The trial of the drone with the APKWS kits produced by BAE's U.S. business, and usually found on F-16s and Apache helicopters, took place last month in Utah, Gregory said.

Given anticipated demand from Western militaries, BAE said it was aiming to start manufacturing the electric motors that power the drone in Britain, instead of buying them from China.

"We're trying to what we would call onshore, or friend shore, all elements in the value chain of the supply chain," Gregory said.

(Reporting by Sarah YoungEditing by Mark Potter)