Army grounds £1bn drone fleet as two crash
TWO multi-million pound British Army reconnaissance drones crashed into the sea earlier this year leading commanders to temporarily ground the entire fleet, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has disclosed.
The Watchkeeper remote-control aircraft were both lost in the Irish Sea after taking off from West Wales Airport at Aberporth.
Remains of the aircraft have not been recovered and investigations into why they crashed have yet to be completed, Jane’s Defence Weekly reported. The MOD said flying had resumed after the crashes, but the incidents were the latest in a series of accidents and delays which have hit the Army’s reconnaissance drone programme.
Rear Admiral Jon Pentreath revealed the grounding during a presentation at the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair in East London.
“Watchkeeper is back in the air after we briefly paused flying earlier this year,” he said.
A defence source said flying was now under stricter weather restrictions, adding: “The service inquiries have not yet concluded so we can’t say officially what caused the crashes but we know enough to allow us to lift the grounding order.”
The Ministry of Defence ordered 54 Watchkeepers in 2005 in an £847million deal to provide surveillance and reconnaissance for troops. The 35ft wingspan aircraft can beam back high definition images, day or night, as they fly up to 16,000ft above the battlefield.
When the aircraft were first ordered, the defence secretary said they would be in service by 2010. The July 2017 report of the UK Infrastructure and Projects Authority reported that the Watchkeeper project had then cost £1.1billion. The Army says it is “built to operate in extreme and challenging environments” and “carries the very latest optical and radar systems”. But technical and safety delays and a lack of trained personnel have meant that apart from a brief stint in Afghanistan, the aircraft has still not fully entered service.
Army sources said that despite the crashes, commanders are confident they can bring the aircraft into service later this year, or early next year.
♦ The Royal Navy’s new £250million Type 31e frigate will feature iphone-style voice controls and will have unmanned drones working alongside, or even instead of, helicopters, the First Sea Lord has said.
Adml Sir Philip Jones also revealed that drone minehunters would be used to protect UK waters within two years.