Royal Marines, Japan acquires T-150 UAVs from Malloy Aeronautics

Malloy Aeronautics T-150, flown during a live demonstration at the company's factory in Maidenhead in February 2024, is being acquired by the Royal Marines and Japan for experimentation and trials. (Crown Copyright)

The T-150 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by UK-based company Malloy Aeronautics has been acquired by the Royal Marines and Japan, UK's Minister for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge announced to Janes and other media representatives on 22 February.

Speaking at the Defence Drone Strategy launch at Malloy Aeronautics factory, Cartlidge said that 22 T-150 quadcopters have been acquired by the Royal Marines and two by Japan for experimentation.

Cartlidge told Janes that the Royal Marines acquired the platforms under a direct acquisition.

Malloy Aeronautics' UAVs have participated in a number of competitions and trials, including UK initiatives ‘Uncrewed Air Systems Heavy Lift Capability' and ‘Multi-Domain Integrated Swarm' as well as the multinational annual Exercise ‘REPMUS' (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Unmanned Systems). During ‘REPMUS', the company integrated an inert Sting Ray training variant torpedo on the T-600 heavy lift UAV.

An undisclosed number of T-150 UAVs have been sent to Ukraine as part of a military support package announced in May 2022. Cartlidge confirmed to Janes that more are being sent to Ukraine under the latest GBP200 million (USD253 million) ‘drone' package announced in January 2024.

The T-150 is a heavy lift UAV capable of carrying payloads weighing up to 68 kg from distances up to 70 km. The platform has been resupplying Ukrainian units across the Dnieper river, Cartlidge noted.

Malloy Aeronautics was acquired and merged into BAE Systems FalconWorks in February 2024.