The British Army is spending £16 million on more than 1,000 small drones for battlefield surveillance, intelligence gathering and training. The Ministry of Defence says the purchase will improve soldiers’ access to timely battlefield information and protection, while helping make uncrewed systems standard equipment at lower tactical levels.

The order includes 670 Skydio X10 quadcopters, 245 lightweight FOXE-NATO drones and 110 SONORA training drones. The X10 can fly for up to 40 minutes, while the pouch-deployable FOXE-NATO weighs under 250 grams and SONORA can be deployed in under a minute; the contracts follow a separate £400 million deal to replace the Army’s Watchkeeper fleet with larger Tekever AR5 drones.