Reconnaissance drone AR5: British Army orders from Tekever for up to £400 million

A reconnaissance drone from Portugal is to fly for the British Army in future: the AR5 from Tekever. The manufacturer signed the contract with the UK Ministry of Defence under Project CORVUS; it is worth up to £400 million (around €460 million). The first systems are to enter service this year.

The British Army is thus getting an unmanned aircraft system intended for long reconnaissance and surveillance missions. The drone is also to be usable over longer distances and to provide commanders with a continuous picture of the battlefield. This is intended to detect enemy activity early and to base military decisions on better information.

According to Tekever, experience from operations in Ukraine was also essential in winning the contract. The company says its systems have logged more than 50,000 operational flight hours there since 2022. The lessons learned are to feed into the further development of the AR5.

A reconnaissance drone from Swindon

The AR5s for the British armed forces will be built mainly at Tekever's Swindon site. In addition, there will be development, training and support services at other locations in the UK, and the company is also working with local suppliers.

The contract is part of a long-term expansion in the UK. An investment programme called Overmatch is under way, through which Tekever intends to put £400 million (around €460 million) into expanding its British business.

Karl Brew, managing director of Tekever UK, put the contract into context: “Corvus is more than a surveillance system. It represents a fundamentally different approach to delivering military capability, one that evolves continuously in order to stay one step ahead of operational requirements.”

The importance of the project was also highlighted by Luke Pollard, the UK Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry. From small drones to the AR5, he said, the Army's ability to monitor the battlefield, understand it and act more quickly is improving.

New site in Munich

At the same time, Tekever is expanding its presence in Europe. In the German-speaking region, the company now has a stronger presence with the newly founded Tekever Germany and a site in Munich. There is already cooperation with the Bundeswehr: the German armed forces have taken delivery of a first heavy-lift drone from the manufacturer and want to use it to test autonomous capabilities, above all for logistics and support.

This was preceded by a funding round of up to US$580 million (around €500 million). Tekever received a valuation of US$6.4 billion (around €5.5 billion). In addition to Germany and the UK, the company is also present in France, Ukraine and Estonia.

The British Army is to begin introducing the AR5 in 2026. Through Corvus, the British Army wants to expand its wide-area and persistent reconnaissance while strengthening the domestic drone industry.