World’s first supersonic combat drone on sale for $16m

Credit: Kelley Aerospace

The world’s first supersonic unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UAV) has gone on sale for $16m (£11.5m). 

Singapore-based Kelley Aerospace, the company behind the UAV, claims it can travel faster than the speed of sound, reaching up to Mach 2.1, and can be launch autonomously or by remote control. 

“UAVs are known for their persistence…loitering, [but] are never known for their speed" said Kelley Aerospace chief executive Ian Lim at a December launch event. "So with the Arrow supersonic UAV, you will overcome the issues of speed and reach."

According to Kelley Aerospace, the futuristic "Arrow" drone is designed for missions "in highly contested territories" and designed to accompany piloted aircraft to act as bait for missiles, to engage enemy fighters or to jam enemy communications. 

The company has said  a manned aircraft could control "multiple" Arrow drones, each carrying different weapons and each with their own mission. 

The drones, which are made from single shell of carbon fibre, can be flown in formations or in "drone swarms", a technique designed to overwhelm enemy air defence systems. 

Credit: Kelley Aerospace

"The main driver for supersonic unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) is to allow them to operate alongside piloted, supersonic fast jets in tactical situations without having to coordinate between aircraft types with very different levels of performance," said Justin Bronk, research fellow for airpower and technology at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). 

"In other words, UCAVs designed for ‘loyal wingman’ type operations are more likely to be designed with supersonic performance than ones designed to operate independently."

Kelley Aerospace, which is also developing a supersonic business jet, said it has already received more than 100 pre-orders for its latest product, which officially launched last week and costs between $9m (£6.5m) to $16m (£11.5m).

However, the company is not the only company working on a supersonic drone. Turkish defence firm Baykar has also stated it is developing a supersonic UAV which is currently in the concept stage. 

In a Twitch stream last week, the CEO, Haluk Bayraktar, said: "It will be a platform that can fly at the speed of sound. It will be mainly managed by artificial intelligence."

He added: "UAVs can take risks because there are no people in them. They can fly for longer in risky places. The world will move towards unmanned vehicles with the development of artificial intelligence."