Callen-Lenz lauds battlefield success of Nyan OWE
British Army troops seen loading a Nyan OWE onto its launch rail during a demonstration in Estonia in May 2026. Callen-Lenz has said the ‘suicide drone' has enjoyed great success on the battlefield with another unnamed customer, believed to be Ukraine. (Crown Copyright)
Callen-Lenz has lauded the battlefield success of its recently revealed Nyan one-way effector (OWE), telling Janes and other defence media that “thousands” of the systems have already been delivered and are in active operational use.
Speaking at the Warton site of the company's BAE Systems parent company, Callen-Lenz CEO Matt Foster said that, beyond those systems recently delivered to the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery (RA), the Nyan OWE has enjoyed real-world operational success with an undisclosed other customer. This customer is believed to be Ukraine.
“We have delivered thousands of these aircraft, [but] I can't be too specific on the number. It is operationally employed, [but] I can't be specific as to where. I can say though that it has been very successful in the operational environment,” he said on 18 June 2026.
First revealed by the British Army during a demonstration in Estonia in May 2026, the Nyan OWE is a microturbine-powered uncrewed air vehicle that is launched via a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult. While it can be fitted with a range of payloads, it is typically now only being used in the ‘suicide drone' role.
For the demonstration in Estonia, a Nyan OWE was forward deployed by a small team from the 26th
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