IDEX: Milkor launches UAE-designed UCAV

[Philip the Arab]

South African company Milkor was joined by HE Mohammad Ahmad Al Bowardi, UAE Minister of State for Defence Affairs, for the launch of their latest unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), and to mark the opening of their UAE office, at IDEX 2021 in Abu Dhabi.

The aircraft, which is designed and developed by Milkor UAE, was on prominent display on the Milkor stand, complete with six guided weapons on the wings. Milkor’s unpowered munitions series features an inertial navigation system and GNSS for navigation with an optional semi-active laser seeker.
The new UCAV is a medium altitude long endurance UAV with 30,000ft altitude and 35+ hours endurance. It has an 18.6 metre wingspan and can carry out line of sight operations up to a range of 350km and beyond, with line of sight operations to a range in excess of 1,000 km via a satellite link.

Maximum takeoff weight is 1,300 kg and payload 210 kg. Top speed is 250 km/h and cruise speed 110-150 km/h. It has five hardpoints for various payloads and can carry SAR/ISAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar/Inverted Synthetic Aperture Radar), Communications Intelligence (COMINT), AIS (Automatic Identification System), communications relay, communications jammer and other systems including ‘swarm pods’.

 

[Philip the Arab]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1364083430628093953

It carries Desert sting PGMs from Halcon, and I hope this can be in service soon. It seems better than Chinese systems for sure. Even if produced mainly in RSA, they seem like they make good products imo.

 

[Philip the Arab]

And its ITAR free, hopefully it can replace the Chinese junk in service.

 

[Nutuk]

Looks good, when will it fly?

 

[Philip the Arab]

Looks good, when will it fly?

It doesn't say unfortunately but within a few years and probably it will be assembled in the UAE if they order it. South Africans have been pretty trustworthy with a few hiccups in the last decade.

 

[Philip the Arab]

It will use Halcon Desert Sting glide munitions with 5/16/23kg warhead weight options that can be dual or single racked.

 

[Nutuk]

It writes 001, so this one is the first prototype?

 

[Philip the Arab]

It writes 001, so this one is the first prototype?

I suppose it is the first prototype, and with some good Hensoldt South African optics this can be a lethal drone. Hopefully they can match TB2 image quality instead of Chinese junk that required Israeli optics.

 

[Nutuk]

Well the design looks good and sleek and it will be quite an achievement to develop and fly in a few years. It took TAI quite long to develop the Anka
From 2004 - 2010 (6 years development time till first flight)
From 2010 - 2013 tests and qualifications till delivery in 2013
After that upgraded Anka-B, Anka-S and Aksungur models have been developed

 

[Ryder]

Is Uae buying up South Africa's defence industry??

They seem to be hooked on South African Weapons.

 

[Philip the Arab]

Is Uae buying up South Africa's defence industry??

They seem to be hooked on South African Weapons.

KInd of they have siphoned a lot of engineers from Denel and others and seem to have a lot of interest there in helping develop their own industry.

During the apartheid, South Africa had to develop an indigenous capability to survive sanctions and worked closely with Israel allowing them to gain a lot of technology that is useful for the UAE.