BAE demonstrates torpedo-launching drone to NATO

BAE and Malloy Aeronautics have demonstrated their T-600 heavy drone in a NATO exercise in Portugal.

BAE T-600 heavy drone

“Our smaller T-150 has been tested and operated for years by the UK MoD and US DoD,” said Malloy Aeronautics CEO Oriol Badia. “T-600 has gone from concept to operational demonstrator in record time for a vehicle in this payload class.”

Capable of vertical take-off and landing, electrically-powered quadcopter T-600 can carry 200kg and travel at up to 140km/h. Payload-dependent range is up to 80km.


BAE T600 heavy drone with crew“It is around the size of a small car and is designed to be disassembled for transportation,” said BAE. “During the exercise, the demonstrator released an inert Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedo during a flight mission at sea for the first time.”


This adds torpedo launching to last-mile re-supply and casualty evacuation roles already demonstrated, it added.

BAE T-650 heavy drone concept imageT-600 is a proof-of-concept pre-cursor to the planned T-650 (right) “which will offer reconfiguration capabilities applicable to military, commercial and humanitarian uses”, said BAE, carrying 300kg up to 30km, with a maximum range and speed the same as the T-600.

L3 Harris and General Dynamics UK were also partners in the demonstration.

BAE T600 heavy drone with more crew

The exercise, called Repmus (Robotic experimentation and prototyping with maritime un-crewed systems) involved 15 NATO countries as well as Ireland and Sweden. “It provided a safe and controlled area to test concepts, requirements and advancing technologies in respect of maritime un-crewed systems”, said BAE.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*