Loitering munition TYR: Heaviside Industries shows lightweight weapon at AUSA

Heaviside Industries has presented its TYR loitering munition at the AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington. The weapon is miniaturised and weighs only just over two kilograms; it is nevertheless intended to be effective even against main battle tanks.

With a total weight of around 6.8 kilograms, the system is designed to be carried by soldiers.

Four warhead variants from Nammo are available for TYR:

• Shaped charge against armour.
• Munition against structures.
• Explosively formed penetrator.
• Anti-personnel fragmentation warhead.

This is intended to allow armed forces to tailor the effect to the respective target. TYR can be used against armoured vehicles, fortified structures and other targets.

The weapon is intended for ground and base defence. It can also be used to counter unmanned aircraft systems (counter-UAS) or be integrated into larger unmanned systems.

Loitering munition with more than an hour of flight time

TYR is designed for contested and GPS-denied environments. The system can stay in the air for more than 60 minutes, and its range exceeds 40 kilometres.

It reaches a top speed of more than 240 kilometres per hour. At the same time, a low acoustic and visual signature is intended to ensure that it operates inconspicuously.

Phillip Walker, CEO of Heaviside Industries, said: “With an unprecedented combination of size, weight and performance, TYR delivers a disproportionate blow to armoured vehicles, fortified structures and other enemy targets while keeping soldiers further out of harm's way.”

According to the company, TYR has completed live-fire testing. The system is currently under contract with Department of War customers. Its development and evaluation were guided by operational requirements for range, effect, portability and performance in contested environments. Heaviside's goal is to make a lightweight loitering munition widely available.