Flyby Technology will sell Taiwan 160 JACKAL drones that can launch Martlet missiles

Taiwan will purchase more than ten dozen JACKAL unmanned aerial vehicles. This was announced by the head of Flyby Technolgy.

Here's What We Know

JACKAL looks like a compact helicopter. The deliveries were officially announced by Flyby Technolgy CEO Jon Parker. The island nation has ordered 160 drones, but the amount of the deal is not specified. The UAV can land and take off vertically, so it does not need specialised infrastructure for launch.

JACKAL is a multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicle. It can perform reconnaissance, surveillance and strike enemy targets. In the first half of 2023, the UK Royal Air Force conducted a test in which the drone successfully launched a Martlet missile.

The missile was built by Thales Air Defence specifically for the United Kingdom. It has a wingspan of 26cm and weighs 13kg. The mass of the warhead is 3kg. The Martlet can reach a speed of Mach 1.5 (510 m/s) and has a launch range of 8 kilometres. It is not known how different these parameters are when launched from a JACKAL drone.

Source: John Parker