Watchkeeper WK450 is a £800 million contract awarded in July 2005 to Thales to provide the British Army with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for all weather, Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) use.
The Watchkeeper is based on the Elbit Hermes 450 UAV (designated WK450). The engine is the rotary Wankel engine. It has a mass of 450 kg and a payload capacity of 150 kg, with a typical endurance of 17 hours. It was originally intended to enter service in June 2010.[1]
The Watchkeeper is built in the UK by a joint venture company, UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), set up by the Israeli company Elbit Systems (51% ownership) and French company Thales. UAV Engines Ltd, who build the rotary engine in the UK, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems.[2] The majority Israeli ownership has caused some unexpected problems obtaining U.S. export authorisation for some components.[3]
On 15 July 2007, the UK MOD revealed to IT and Science website The Register that 54 Watchkeepers will be delivered to the British Army. The average cost to the taxpayer is therefore £800m divided by 54 aircraft, approximately £15m per platform.[4]
Watchkeeper's first UK flight took place on Wednesday 14 April 2010 from West Wales Airport in Wales.[5]
In October 2010, the contract was extended by a further 18 months,[6] and the delivery date slipped from February 2011 to toward the end of 2011.[7]
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||||