The Royal Navy has launched four Nyan one-way effector drones from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the North Atlantic. All four reached their designated strike points, according to BAE Systems.
Announced in a BAE Systems press release on 6 November, the launches took place during Exercise Neptune Reach B. Trade coverage places them in October. Nyan was designed and built by Callen-Lenz, part of BAE Systems, and is a small uncrewed aircraft with a 2.9-metre wingspan. It was first launched at sea earlier this year from the experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett during Exercise Neptune Reach A.
The trials fall under Project Vantage, a joint effort by the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force to speed up testing and fielding of maritime strike drones.
Matt Foster, chief executive of Callen-Lenz, said: “We continue to invest in uncrewed systems that can provide affordable, scalable combat mass and increase the impact of existing capabilities.”
Lieutenant Commander David Burton, the Royal Navy’s capability sponsor, said the activity would help explore “how uncrewed strike drones might operate alongside other crewed and uncrewed capabilities within a maritime task group.”
The carrier also hosted a separate trial in which a Tekever AR5 reusable drone took off and landed on the ship, according to ADS Advance and Navy Lookout.
No procurement decision for Nyan has been announced, and no date for operational service or purchase quantities has been given, according to European Security & Defence and Navy Lookout.
