UK launches Project NYX to pair autonomous tactical drones with AH-64E Apache helicopters
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The UK Ministry of Defence has kicked off Project NYX, a Capability Concept Demonstrator to field an autonomous tactical drone as a Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform for the Army’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, according to a 4 November tender notice. If successful, the programme would give British Apache regiments their own loyal wingman drones for reconnaissance, strike, and electronic countermeasures in contested airspace before the end of the decade.
UK Defence Innovation has opened the competition for Project NYX, a flagship Army programme to develop an Autonomous Collaborative Platform, an uncrewed air system that will operate alongside AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in a highly autonomous, “commanded not controlled” mode. The pipeline notice, published on 4 November on the government’s Find a Tender service, describes a Capability Concept Demonstrator phase worth an estimated 100 million pounds, with up to four industry teams selected before down-selection to a single solution. Designed to fly ahead of the helicopter into dense air defences, the drone is expected to handle tasks such as reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, and countering enemy countermeasures, while integrating with other launched effects already envisaged in UK doctrine. MoD planners want an accelerated schedule, with a contract award targeted for 2026 and a live demonstration in 2027 so that operational drones can align with the Apache fleet’s modernisation cycle later in the decade.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
At the core of NYX, the British request for tenders calls for the development of a UAS intended to operate as an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) in support of AH-64E helicopters. (Picture source: UK MoD)
The British reflection mirrors that of the French Army Light Aviation, which already describes the rise of unmanned systems as the start of a “dronisation” of air combat rather than the end of the attack helicopter. French concepts of “air-launched effects” and “tactical air combat drones” envisage systems acting as loyal wingmen, able to strike, jam, illuminate, or gather intelligence without exposing the crew. The British land forces follow a comparable trajectory and transpose this approach to their Apache fleet, to pair crewed helicopters and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) on the same contested theatre.
At the core of NYX, the British request for tenders calls for the development of a UAS intended to operate as an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) in support of AH-64E helicopters. The future drone is required to function with a high degree of autonomy in a “commanded not controlled” logic, where the helicopter crew defines intent, desired effects, and engagement constraints, while the onboard algorithms manage the mission profile. The expected tasks include reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, countering enemy countermeasures, and integration with other launched effects, all within airspace saturated by ground-based air defences and jamming. The ACP is presented as a way to increase the lethality and survivability of the crewed platform while reducing logistical footprint and maintenance costs.
The competition launched by the Ministry of Defence focuses first on a concept demonstrator, in a scope limited to research and development activities. Up to four industrial actors may be selected at the first stage, with an overall contract estimated at 100 million pounds, before consolidation to a single winner after trials. The announced schedule foresees accelerated development between 2026 and 2028, with a capability demonstration in 2027, to align the introduction of tactical drones with the Apache fleet’s modernisation cycle. This approach fits within the British defence industrial strategy, which emphasises technological sovereignty and industrial presence on national territory for the most sensitive components of the programme.
The choice of the AH-64E Apache as the pivot of this transformation is deliberate. This variant, delivered in around fifty examples to the British Army, is powered by T700-GE-701D engines, providing more power in hot and high conditions and preserving performance margins when the helicopter carries maximum fuel, weapons, and sensors. It integrates the Longbow fire-control radar mounted above the rotor, able to detect and classify moving targets at several kilometres, as well as modernised electro-optical systems for all-weather target acquisition. The AH-64E can carry up to 16 Hellfire anti-tank missiles, 76 70 mm rocket,s and a 30 mm cannon with roughly 1,200 rounds, which makes it a dense fire platform ready to exploit the intelligence supplied by a future loyal wingman drone.
Preliminary specifications for the land ACP concept point towards a vertical take-off and landing drone able to carry more than 200 kg of payload, from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors to guided munitions, built around an open architecture to integrate future payloads, software modules, or data links. Priority is placed on native integration with existing Ministry of Defence systems, from command networks to electronic warfare assets, to feed near-real-time tactical pictures for land units. This open-architecture logic also supports export prospects and interoperability, as it allows partners operating Apache or other air combat platforms to integrate common bricks or national modules according to their own priorities.
The Apache–ACP pairing is intended to extend the reach of land and air manoeuvre and to delegate the most exposed segments of the mission profile to the drone. The uncrewed system can move ahead in a low-observable posture, under strict emissions control (EMCON), to detect air-defence radars, command vehicles, or artillery systems that the Apache will then engage from a safer distance. It can also loiter above the battlefield to maintain a more continuous flow of intelligence than a brief helicopter overflight would allow, while complementing Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones operating deeper into the theatre. The sharing of roles helps absorb higher loss rates for uncrewed platforms while preserving aircrews and their experience.
The emergence of NYX indicates that the war in Ukraine firmly establishes drones as a central factor of land and air superiority rather than a mere support tool. By planning to equip its AH-64E Apache helicopters with tactical drones by 2028, the United Kingdom signals that a European attack helicopter is now seen as the core of a system of systems combining sensors, effectors, and uncrewed platforms. This trajectory feeds technological competition with the United States but also with Russia and China, which work in parallel on collaborative combat architectures. It also raises issues of regulation and acceptability within NATO, where the search for operational advantage will interact with future debates on the acceptable degree of autonomy for lethal systems in an already unstable security environment.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
The UK Ministry of Defence has kicked off Project NYX, a Capability Concept Demonstrator to field an autonomous tactical drone as a Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform for the Army’s AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, according to a 4 November tender notice. If successful, the programme would give British Apache regiments their own loyal wingman drones for reconnaissance, strike, and electronic countermeasures in contested airspace before the end of the decade.
UK Defence Innovation has opened the competition for Project NYX, a flagship Army programme to develop an Autonomous Collaborative Platform, an uncrewed air system that will operate alongside AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in a highly autonomous, “commanded not controlled” mode. The pipeline notice, published on 4 November on the government’s Find a Tender service, describes a Capability Concept Demonstrator phase worth an estimated 100 million pounds, with up to four industry teams selected before down-selection to a single solution. Designed to fly ahead of the helicopter into dense air defences, the drone is expected to handle tasks such as reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, and countering enemy countermeasures, while integrating with other launched effects already envisaged in UK doctrine. MoD planners want an accelerated schedule, with a contract award targeted for 2026 and a live demonstration in 2027 so that operational drones can align with the Apache fleet’s modernisation cycle later in the decade.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
At the core of NYX, the British request for tenders calls for the development of a UAS intended to operate as an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) in support of AH-64E helicopters. (Picture source: UK MoD)
The British reflection mirrors that of the French Army Light Aviation, which already describes the rise of unmanned systems as the start of a “dronisation” of air combat rather than the end of the attack helicopter. French concepts of “air-launched effects” and “tactical air combat drones” envisage systems acting as loyal wingmen, able to strike, jam, illuminate, or gather intelligence without exposing the crew. The British land forces follow a comparable trajectory and transpose this approach to their Apache fleet, to pair crewed helicopters and Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) on the same contested theatre.
At the core of NYX, the British request for tenders calls for the development of a UAS intended to operate as an Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) in support of AH-64E helicopters. The future drone is required to function with a high degree of autonomy in a “commanded not controlled” logic, where the helicopter crew defines intent, desired effects, and engagement constraints, while the onboard algorithms manage the mission profile. The expected tasks include reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, countering enemy countermeasures, and integration with other launched effects, all within airspace saturated by ground-based air defences and jamming. The ACP is presented as a way to increase the lethality and survivability of the crewed platform while reducing logistical footprint and maintenance costs.
The competition launched by the Ministry of Defence focuses first on a concept demonstrator, in a scope limited to research and development activities. Up to four industrial actors may be selected at the first stage, with an overall contract estimated at 100 million pounds, before consolidation to a single winner after trials. The announced schedule foresees accelerated development between 2026 and 2028, with a capability demonstration in 2027, to align the introduction of tactical drones with the Apache fleet’s modernisation cycle. This approach fits within the British defence industrial strategy, which emphasises technological sovereignty and industrial presence on national territory for the most sensitive components of the programme.
The choice of the AH-64E Apache as the pivot of this transformation is deliberate. This variant, delivered in around fifty examples to the British Army, is powered by T700-GE-701D engines, providing more power in hot and high conditions and preserving performance margins when the helicopter carries maximum fuel, weapons, and sensors. It integrates the Longbow fire-control radar mounted above the rotor, able to detect and classify moving targets at several kilometres, as well as modernised electro-optical systems for all-weather target acquisition. The AH-64E can carry up to 16 Hellfire anti-tank missiles, 76 70 mm rocket,s and a 30 mm cannon with roughly 1,200 rounds, which makes it a dense fire platform ready to exploit the intelligence supplied by a future loyal wingman drone.
Preliminary specifications for the land ACP concept point towards a vertical take-off and landing drone able to carry more than 200 kg of payload, from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors to guided munitions, built around an open architecture to integrate future payloads, software modules, or data links. Priority is placed on native integration with existing Ministry of Defence systems, from command networks to electronic warfare assets, to feed near-real-time tactical pictures for land units. This open-architecture logic also supports export prospects and interoperability, as it allows partners operating Apache or other air combat platforms to integrate common bricks or national modules according to their own priorities.
The Apache–ACP pairing is intended to extend the reach of land and air manoeuvre and to delegate the most exposed segments of the mission profile to the drone. The uncrewed system can move ahead in a low-observable posture, under strict emissions control (EMCON), to detect air-defence radars, command vehicles, or artillery systems that the Apache will then engage from a safer distance. It can also loiter above the battlefield to maintain a more continuous flow of intelligence than a brief helicopter overflight would allow, while complementing Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones operating deeper into the theatre. The sharing of roles helps absorb higher loss rates for uncrewed platforms while preserving aircrews and their experience.
The emergence of NYX indicates that the war in Ukraine firmly establishes drones as a central factor of land and air superiority rather than a mere support tool. By planning to equip its AH-64E Apache helicopters with tactical drones by 2028, the United Kingdom signals that a European attack helicopter is now seen as the core of a system of systems combining sensors, effectors, and uncrewed platforms. This trajectory feeds technological competition with the United States but also with Russia and China, which work in parallel on collaborative combat architectures. It also raises issues of regulation and acceptability within NATO, where the search for operational advantage will interact with future debates on the acceptable degree of autonomy for lethal systems in an already unstable security environment.
