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Drone uses precision weapon to shoot down another drone

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Malloy T-150 drone fitted with APKWS kit for trial

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Cost-effective option to countering drone threat

By Sarah Young

WARTON, England, July 16 (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.