Britain’s mini-drone contract gets a heavier definition of mini

A mini drone, as the British Army defined it in 2022, weighed up to 20kg. The Ministry of Defence now proposes that it can weigh up to 50kg. A transparency notice reported by the UK Defence Journal on 26 October says the MoD intends to raise the maximum take-off weight allowed under TIQUILA, the army’s mini-drone contract with Lockheed Martin UK, “from a maximum of 20kg to 50kg”, and to confirm that it covers drones flown both within and beyond the operator’s line of sight. It plans to do so without running a new competition.

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