Ukraine, UK create joint venture to pitch Raybird UAS for British military requirements

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to launch the Raybird air vehicle, which after amassing more than 350,000 combat hours in Ukraine is now being pitched for UK military requirements. (Skyeton International)

Ukraine and the United Kingdom have launched a joint venture (JV) to offer the Raybird unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for British military requirements.

Ukrainian manufacturer Skyeton International has been joined by UK partner Prevail Partners in the JV, which was announced in a joint communique on 2 July.

“The partnership between Skyeton and Prevail combines Ukrainian drone innovation with British expertise in battlefield integration to scale up volume manufacturing,” the statement said. “[The] new UK-Ukraine joint venture reflects President Volodymyr Zelensky and [Prime Minister] Sir Keir Starmer's drone collaboration ambition.”

A representative of the JV told Janes that the key message is that Skyeton's proven technology, which has been 19 years in the making and which is typically iterated 40 times a year to contend with conflict challenges, is now to be harnessed with the scale manufacturing capabilities of Prevail Partners in the UK. This is in line with the UK's recent Strategic Defence Review (SDR) published on 2 June, which expressed the desire for its military to undertake agile, war-validated procurements.

The Raybird is billed by the JV as being a cost-effective and readily deployable NATO Class 1 UAS delivering “best-in-class” performance. First showcased at the Eurosatory 2024 defence exhibition in Paris, where it was referred to as the Raybird-3/ Aircraft Industrial Company Skyeton (AICS)-3, the Raybird is a multirole UAS that delivers a 28 h endurance at altitudes up to 11,483 ft. Other performance parameters include a maximum take-off weight of 23 kg, a maximum payload of 5 kg, and a cruise speed of 110 km/h.