Bidders ready for next Nyx phase as demos wrap up

Ministry of Defence will release invitation to tender for Apache ‘loyal wingman’ drone in the coming weeks.
UK defence officials will in the coming weeks kick off the next phase of Project Nyx, a competition to develop a ‘loyal wingman’ drone that will fight alongside the British Army’s Boeing Apache AH-64E attack helicopter fleet.

Earlier this year the Ministry of Defence (MoD) down-selected four contenders from a seven-strong field for the current phase-one effort, which culminates at the beginning of October with the completion of a final set of flight demonstrations.

Responding to questions from FlightGlobal, the MoD says the invitation to tender – detailing Nyx’s precise requirements – “will be released after the current stage demonstrations have been completed”.

A further whittling down of the field, to as many as two companies, is scheduled for the fourth quarter, the MoD confirms, a delay over an initial third-quarter goal.

At its launch, the intention of the project was to have those companies operating their systems at the NATO Steadfast Defender exercise in May or June next year. Despite the now compressed timetable, the MoD maintains this target is feasible.

“Participation in Steadfast Defender remains the ambition, and work continues to ensure that this goal can be met,” it says.

A single supplier is expected to be selected to lead further development of the capability from March 2028.

In June’s Defence Investment Plan the MoD laid out an ambition to field up to 24 systems acquired through Nyx by 2030 for a total of £220 million ($292 million). However, given the ratio to the 50-strong Apache fleet and the attritable nature of the platform this is likely to increase.

To date, Anduril Industries, BAE Systems and Thales have all conducted demonstration exercises for representatives from the MoD and Army Air Corps.

Thales was the first in line, showcasing its Nyx offer, based on the Schiebel S-300 rotary-wing uncrewed air vehicle (UAV), at Predannack airfield in southwest England in mid-September.

For the demonstration, the firm flew a sensor-equipped Schiebel S-100 rotary-wing UAV in the live environment, linked with ‘synthetic’ Apache and S-300 aircraft and air-launched effects (ALE).

Together, the aircraft carried out a typical mission for the Apache and its accompanying aircraft, which saw the S-300s and ALE working autonomously, based on broad instructions from the Apache crew, to find, fix and then neutralise an enemy target in a contested battlespace, including carrying out independent manoeuvre.

“That was the first step at Preddanack having a fully immersive, synthetic and live demonstration that showed how we are integrating autonomy into the system to help our command and control environment,” says Matt Moore, Thales’s director of defence sales and business development for ISR.

Development of the autonomy stack has been led by Thales’s CortAIx accelerator in the UK, providing a sovereign capability for the requirement.

A real S-300 was also put through its paces at Predannack – the first time the UAV has flown in the UK – albeit within a limited envelope due to restrictions put in place by the country’s civil aviation regulator.

However, with extensive development flying having already taken place elsewhere in Europe, and the S-300 on track for service entry with the Republic of Korea Navy by year-end, Thales is confident in its maturity: “It’s a real platform: it’s viable, it has a very similar performance envelope to Apache, and it works,” says Moore.

BAE, meanwhile, carried out its demonstrations at the Keevil airfield test facility used by Certo Aerospace, its platform partner for Nyx.

These saw Certo’s Capstone coaxial-rotor UAV conduct multiple sorties alongside surrogate aircraft simulating other assets and demonstrating aspects of the autonomy stack. BAE units Callen-Lenz and Digital Intelligence are also participating in the Nyx bid.

To date, Certo has been flying an early iteration of Capstone. However, a second-generation version is in the works, featuring a heavy fuel engine and improved aerodynamics to allow it to reach a higher maximum speed.

Anduril declines to comment on its demonstration programme, citing the live nature of the contest. However, FlightGlobal understands the flights took place last week at a test facility in Arizona; it is unclear what aircraft were used for the effort.

Similarly, Tekever declines to comment on its participation in Nyx. Demonstrations of its AR6 aircraft – based on an existing design from recently acquired Scottish subsidiary Flowcopter – are understood to be taking place this week in Spain.

If selected, all four companies have pledged to build their aircraft in the UK. Certo and Tekever have an existing industrial presence – respectively in Frome and Swindon in the west of England – and Anduril is working with GKN Aerospace to scale its offer.

Vienna, Austria-headquartered Schiebel in June established a UK subsidiary, based in Bournemouth on England’s south coast, and Moore says if successful in Nyx its partner will “stand up and develop a full manufacturing development and integration facility in the UK”.

An as-yet undisclosed industrial partner has been selected, who will “form a very fundamental part of how Schiebel generate themselves in the UK”.

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