The Royal Navy launched four Callen-Lenz Nyan one-way effectors from the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during North Atlantic trials in October, according to UK Defence Journal’s report. The report, citing BAE Systems, says all four drones hit their designated strike points.
The launches were conducted under Project Vantage and Exercise Neptune Reach B, involving the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. UK Defence Journal reports that Nyan is a 2.9-metre-wingspan uncrewed aircraft designed and built by Callen-Lenz, which is part of BAE Systems. The trials examined how maritime strike drones could operate alongside crewed and uncrewed systems in future carrier operations.
The procurement context is limited but material: UK Defence Journal reports that the Ministry of Defence awarded Callen-Lenz a contract worth about £5 million in February to buy Nyan systems for UK forces deployed on Operation Cabrit. The fetched reporting does not state the quantity purchased, a delivery schedule or how many systems are now available to the carrier force.
Naval News reports that the carrier flights followed an earlier at-sea launch from the experimental vessel XV Patrick Blackett. Naval News also reports that, at the same time, the carrier hosted Heavy Lift Challenge 3, during which a Tekever AR5 fixed-wing uncrewed aircraft operated from a carrier for the first time. It says the AR5 has a 7m wingspan and an 80kg payload capacity, and that the trials demonstrated how uncrewed aircraft used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance could operate alongside strike systems. The source says the aircraft can support logistics and operational missions; it does not identify the AR5 as part of the Nyan strike-drone activity.
The evidence supports a successful carrier-based trial and a prior procurement award, but not operational entry into service. UK Defence Journal reports that the Royal Navy described the exercise as generating evidence for future capability decisions, leaving the schedule for wider fielding unresolved.