July drone digest: Sovereign production takes centre stage at Farnborough

Uncrewed capabilities and programmes were a core focus at the Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) 2026, which ran from 20-24 July.

The Royal Air Force (RAF)’s StormFighter Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme was perhaps one of the most talked-about procurement efforts. The force laid out an aggressive timeline for this initiative, with Air Staff Air Mshl Sir Harv Smyth telling journalists that the RAF wished to become “Europe’s first sixth-generation air force”; a feat that would require fielding a sixth-generation formation before 2030. 

Smyth made this announcement at a BAE Systems unveiling ceremony for Brontanax, the company’s entrant in the CCA programme. The platform’s name means “thunder” in Ancient Greek, exemplifying the link to StormFighter. BAE Systems highlighted that it intended to meet the RAF’s timeline, with FalconWorks managing director Dave Holmes telling Defence Insight and other outlets that power-on was planned for Q3 2026, followed by ground trials in the first half of 2027, before scheduled flight trials in the second half of the year. 

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Boeing also displayed its CCA offering at Farnborough, showcasing the MQ-28 Ghost Bat fitted with MBDA’s Meteor air-to-air missile. As reported by Defence Insight, Glen Ferguson, director of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat programme, highlighted the aircraft’s maturity, confirming that the current prototype had accumulated more than 200 sorties and over 25,000 hours of digital testing since its maiden flight in 2021.

Both BAE Systems and Boeing pointed to the sovereignty of their offerings for StormFighter, highlighting how important this aspect has become in uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) procurements. Holmes confirmed that this was the “key differentiator”, noting that BAE Systems had reached out to “nearly 100 UK-based companies” and had drawn in new companies from near-neighbour industries to help secure its sovereign supply chain. Similarly, Ferguson stated that Boeing would localise production in the UK or in the country of any other potential customer, rather than operating a large centralised factory, highlighting that “most countries will want their own sovereign capability”.

In June, the UK Defence Investment Plan (DIP) outlined £300 million in investment for a “new, national” CCA programme, before it was given the title StormFighter. The plan also set out ongoing spending on the RAF’s fleet in the 2030s, including “continued investment in our CCA programme to deliver autonomous capability for every combat air squadron”.

Indeed, head of Leonardo’s British division Clive Higgins reiterated this to Breaking Defense, highlighting that the funding in the DIP is only “enough to probably kick off a programme and do some initial demonstrator work”, rather than to acquire a fleet. For this reason, Defence Insight forecasts that StormFighter will have a procurement cost of $3.185 billion, with a contract award expected before the end of the decade.

Tekever’s triumphs

Another company that had a busy week at Farnborough was Tekever, which displayed three drones at its stand: the AR3, the AR5 and the AR6, the latter of which was revealed on the second day of the show.

The use cases for the newly unveiled AR6 include contested logistics, such as ship-to-shore logistics operations, combat casualty evaluation and autonomous wingman concepts, as reported by Defence Insight. The AR6 features a digital-displacement hydraulic powertrain, which, as claimed by Flowcopter CEO Peter McCurry at the drone’s unveiling, offers a much higher power-to-weight ratio – especially compared to electric motors – a low price point and robustness.

As an autonomous wingman, the drone is Tekever’s offering for Project Nyx, a British Army effort to develop a highly autonomous, sovereign system to be paired with a crewed Apache AH-64E attack helicopter. Tekever and three other companies were confirmed to be on a reduced shortlist for the project in May 2026, down from a seven-company shortlist in January.

Like BAE Systems and Boeing, Tekever highlighted the drone’s sovereignty, calling it a “sovereign solution for heavy-lift autonomy” during the unveiling event, with the drone scheduled to be produced in large numbers at the company’s Swindon facility from the end of 2026.

Before the AR6 was unveiled, Anduril and Archer formally launched the Thunder at Farnborough, a Group 5 autonomous tiltrotor aircraft billed as a “loyal wingman” for the Apache attack helicopter, with the operating concept envisaging three to six Thunders flying with each Apache. However, despite this use case, and Anduril UK being shortlisted for Nyx, Anduril told Defence Insight and others that it was not linking the Thunder to the effort. Schiebel and BAE Systems are the other two companies shortlisted.

In addition to Nyx, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the weekend after Farnborough that Tekever was involved in another UK procurement programme, confirming the company’s AR5 surveillance drone had been selected for an up to £400 million deal to replace the ageing Watchkeeper drones through Project Corvus. Notably, the announcement confirmed that the procurement programme had transitioned from an open competition to a direct award. 

Once again, domestic self-reliance remained key to this selection, with Tekever UK’s managing director Karl Brew stating that the proposed deal isn’t about a platform; it’s about building and sustaining sovereign capability that stays one step ahead of our adversaries”. Meanwhile, UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting remarked that the direct award is “driving re-industrialisation and backing British innovation”.

The other UAV displayed by Tekever was the AR3. The drone is already in service with the RAF, which announced in May 2025 that it had acquired it under the StormShroud programme. The AR3 is to be fitted with Leonardo UK’s BriteStorm electronic warfare payload and will support the RAF’s F-35B Lightning and Typhoon.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

StormFighter [UK]

Project NYX: Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform (LACP) [UK]

Project Corvus [UK]

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

MQ-28A Ghost Bat

Brontanax

AR6