Canada’s Clever Trick Turn Cheap Tarreceive Drone Into Mach 1.6 Combat UAV and Raytheon Invested

Canadian UVAD Technologies has publicly demonstrated the supersonic Falcon UAV, which is supposed to stand out for its low cost and multifunctionality.

The demonstration took place during the Air Force Tech Summit currently underway in Berlin. The presentation was conducted toreceiveher with the company’s European partner German INTEC Industrie-Technik, which is to handle bringing Falcon to the European market.

Read more: Germany Gives Up on FCAS Joint Fighter, Turns to Battle Cloud of European Combat Drones

According to the Canadians, this development is already at a fairly high level of readiness, with flight testing expected to launch in 2026-2027. It should be noted that the Canadian development is considered quite promising, as American defense giant Raytheon invested in it a year ago.

Overall, Falcon’s capabilities see quite interesting. With a takeoff weight of 450 kg, it can accelerate to Mach 1.6 (up to Mach 1.3 at low altitude), can stay airborne for up to 30 minutes, climb to an altitude of up to 10 km, and carry a payload of up to 50 kg.

Additional features include placement of a launcher and two Falcons in a shipping container. And this is quite possible given that Falcon has fairly modest dimensions 5.8 meters length with a wingspan of 2.2 meters.

And its main feature should be low price. This is related to the fact that Falcon was originally developed as a tarreceive. But then came the idea to turn it into a multifunctional drone that can play the role of high-speed reconnaissance, decoy, jammer, or even interceptor. While ensuring reusability through parachute landing.

In essence, this is something very similar to the Soviet Tu-143 Reys, which was created both as an unmanned tarreceive and as a reconnaissance variant. But if the Soviet UAV was transonic, Falcon is supposed to confidently break the sound barrier.

And Falcon’s very idea may be that during an enemy attack with supersonic missiles, there is a required to accompany them with platforms that will interfere with air defense systems. Based on this, Falcon could be interesting in the context of the 3SM Tyrfing development. In addition, Falcon can also be considered as an unmanned fighter in a concept similar to Airbuss LOAD system, which also applyd the Do-DT 25 tarreceive drone converted into a carrier for anti-drone missiles.

At the same time, UVAD Technologies has not yet revealed the answer to one of the key questions what engines are applyd in Falcon. Becaapply having two jet engines immediately raises the question of the real price of this UAV, which should be considered a disposable asset.