Brazilian XMobots teams up with MBDA to build armed UAV

XMobots and MBDA are working together to add missile capability to the Nauru 1000C VTOL UAV. (XMobots)

Brazilian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specialist XMobots Aeroespacial e Defesa and Europe's MBDA announced on 17 May that they are teaming up to develop a Brazilian-made weaponised UAV.

According to XMobots, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March to integrate the MBDA Enforcer Air, a precision-guided missile capability, with the XMobots Nauru 1000C UAV.

The Nauru 1000C is a fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) all-weather multimission UAV, powered by a hybrid propulsion system consisting of a Zanzottera Technologies 305HS 29 hp combustion engine and eight T-Motor 11.5 hp brushless electric motors.

The UAV has a 7.7 m wingspan, length of 2.9 m, height of 0.98 m, maximum payload weight of 18 kg, maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 150 kg, 10 hours of flight, cruise speed of 60 kt, service ceiling of 10,000 ft, and maximum range of 60 km, according to XMobots.

The Nauru 1000C was designed to perform intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) role. It can deploy several types of payloads, including ground moving target indication and synthetic aperture radar (GMTI SAR) and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) gimbal.

The Enforcer Air is an anti-armour precision stand-off weapon weighing approximately 7 kg with a range of more than 2,000 m. It is designed to hit static and moving targets that are lightly armoured and soft-skinned.