UK selects Tekever AR5 UAVs to replace obsolescent Watchkeeper fleet

The National Armaments Director (NAD) Group of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has selected the AR5 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by Lisbon-headquartered Tekever to replace the British Army’s fleet of Watchkeeper WK450 intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) UAVs.

The UK MoD stated on 25 July 2026 that “a new investment of up to GBP 400 million” (EUR 466 million) will be made in AR5 UAVs under Project Corvus. An initial order will be for six AR5s, with up to 24 to be procured by 2029. The UAVs will be built by the UK arm of Tekever at a new manufacturing facility in Swindon.

The Tekever AR5

The twin-prop Tekever AR5, which has a wingspan of 7.3 m and a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 180 kg, has a payload capacity of 50 kg (which under Project Corvus will comprise ISR sensors) and an endurance of 20 hours (compared to around 16 hours for a Watchkeeper). It can take off and land from an unprepared airstrip, has a cruise speed of 100 km/h and has an unlimited communications range via a satcom capability.

The AR5 is thus much smaller than a Watchkeeper, which has an MTOW of around 450 kg and a wingspan of 10.9 m.

A UK MoD press release quoted Defence Secretary Wes Streeting as stating, “Proven in Ukraine and designed to protect British soldiers globally, we’ve chosen the UK-based Tekever AR5 drone to supply our personnel with kit that will keep them ahead of emerging threats.

“This investment will support our troops on deployment, while driving re-industrialisation and backing British innovation.”

Watchkeeper WK450: a less-than-shining programme

The British Army’s fleet of Watchkeeper WK450 ISR UAVs, which are based on the Elbit Systems Hermes 450 UAV, were ordered under a contract signed in August 2005 and were originally due to be in service into the 2040s. However, the Watchkeeper fleet did not achieve a full operational capability until November 2018. By March of that year the cost of the Watchkeeper programme had already exceeded GBP 1 billion, which was over GBP 200 million more than the original budget.

By November 2024 the WK450 was already effectively obsolete, such had been the advances in UAV technology since the WK450s were ordered, and the UK MoD announced that the entire Watchkeeper fleet would be retired by March 2025, although in October 2025 this out-of-service date was amended to March 2027.

StormShroud

The NAD Group has already procured another Tekever UAV, the AR3, for the Royal Air Force’s StormShroud capability, in which AR3s are equipped with Leonardo UK’s BriteStorm electronic warfare payload, which is used to jam and disrupt enemy air defence systems.