The British company Hydra Drones has a heavy transport drone, the Hydra 400, which, according to the company founder, is designed to bring “the firepower of an Apache attack helicopter into the trunk of an off-road vehicle”. Now the European armaments group MBDA has now acquired a minority stake and a six-figure investment in Hydra.
The modular drone with rotors and up to six additional engines can transport up to 400 kilograms of payload – from Brimstone missiles to heavy machine guns and supplies. In the future, it could even be used to evacuate the wounded. The flight time with a full load is around 25 minutes, while the range and armament allow precise attacks on targets up to 30 kilometers away.
According to a recent report by the British Telegraph, the British army has been recent report by the British Telegraph has been working with Hydra and also presented the system at the DSEI 2023 defense fair in London. A simpler version has also already been tested. A full prototype is to be completed this year – probably in September – and tested in further trials.
Hydra CEO Tom O’Connor, himself a former aircraft technician in the army, sees the drone as a complement to manned platforms: “Five Hydra drones together achieve the firepower of an Apache. This saves human lives and allows resources to be used more efficiently.” The platform is cost-effective, scalable and partially disposable, says O’Connor.
In addition to MBDA – a joint venture between BAE Systems, Airbus and Leonardo – Hydra has also already raised a good one million euros from private investors. MBDA’s investment comes against the backdrop of increasing investment in heavy-lift drones as a cost-effective alternative to helicopters. Many helicopter missions today are in the payload range below 500 kilograms – an ideal market for new unmanned systems.
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