Navy UAV requirements up in the air
The deployment of an Insitu Blackjack to a UK Royal Navy (RN) ship intended for 2017 has been put on hold due to US Marine Corps requirements.
While the RN contemplates its future embarked unmanned capabilities the Blackjack could emerge as one such option. The service’s use of the ScanEagle is set to conclude in 2017 and the next programme, the flexible deployable UAS (FDUAS), is not likely to see any serious decisions made until 2020.
It is possible that the UK MoD could go down the route of a foreign military sale for the Blackjack to fulfil long term
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