UK declares Tekever AR3 autonomous CCA-type aircraft operational

The UK Ministry of Defence has declared operational its first-of-a-kind StormShroud autonomous Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), based on lessons learned in Ukraine. The UK MoD says StormShroud will fly alongside crewed aircraft in frontline missions to knock out or blind enemy air defences. The StormShroud consists of the Anglo-Portuguese Tekever company’s AR3 UAS carrying a Leonardo UK BriteStorm signal jammer to disrupt enemy radar at long ranges.

StormShroud is a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind UAS that will make the RAF’s combat aircraft more survivable and more lethal, says the UK MoD, and will get from the factory to the frontline at an unprecedented pace.

The AR3 UAS acts as an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP), or Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) to use US parlance, and supports crewed combat aircraft such as the BAE Systems Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II by confusing enemy radars and allowing combat aircraft to attack targets unseen. This means, according to the UK MoD, that for the first time the RAF will benefit from high-end electronic warfare without needing an airborne crew to man the system.

The RAAF and USAF plan to conduct similar trials of the MQ-28A Ghost Bat and the YFQ-42A and -44A UASs in the CCA or ‘loyal wingman’ role later this calendar year. It’s not clear what type of EW, kinetic or Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) payloads these UASs will carry.

StormShroud is just the first of a family of next-generation ACPs being delivered to the RAF, which is investing an initial £19 million ($39 million) into the capability.

Tekever, who currently manufacture the AR3 drones in their Lisbon facility in Portugal, has announced a further £400 million ($823 million) investment over the next five years in its UK factory in Southampton and elsewhere in the UK, creating up to 1,000 new jobs. This is part of the company’s Overmatch program which Tekever says is aimed at transforming the UK’s defence industry and ensuring the UK and its allies remain at the forefront of autonomous, AI-driven technology.

The Tekever AR3 and AR5 have had extensive use in Ukraine, racking up more than 10,000 flight hours for Ukraine’s forces.  The AR3 is a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drone with an 8-16 hour endurance; the much bigger AR5 uses Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL), has a 20-hour endurance and a 50kg payload capacity.