SPS showcases Raybird UAS at UK’s Iron Titan exercise
Skyeton Prevail Solutions demonstrated the Raybird tactical UAS at the UK's Iron Titan exercise, validating operational readiness and signalling faster access to 'ready‑now' systems for allied forces.
Key facts
- SPS, an Anglo‑Ukrainian JV, aims to mass‑produce Raybird tactical UAS for rapid supply.
- Raybird systems were demonstrated during the UK's Iron Titan exercise to validate operational readiness.
- The move signals quicker access to 'ready‑now' tactical UAS for allies, but raises production and sustainment challenges.
2 minute read
Skyeton Prevail Solutions (SPS), the Anglo‑Ukrainian joint venture created to fast‑track volume manufacture and supply of the Raybird unmanned aerial system, used the UK’s Iron Titan exercise as a platform to prove key credentials. The demonstration aimed to validate the platform’s mission systems, logistics and integration with UK units under realistic conditions, showcasing SPS’s ability to deliver a ‘ready‑now’ capability.
From a European defence perspective, the demonstration is significant: it demonstrates a practical route to rapidly field tested tactical UAS amid high operational demand. The SPS arrangement also illustrates deepening industrial cooperation between the UK and Ukraine, offering a potential supply line while national procurement and domestic production programmes mature.
Key challenges remain. Proving capability in an exercise does not remove the need for scalable production, robust sustainment, crew training and compliance with export and certification regimes across NATO and EU partners. Procurement authorities will watch whether SPS can turn the Iron Titan demonstration into reliable, repeatable deliveries and long‑term in‑service support.
Source: European Security & Defence
