Taiwan To Procure Jackal VTOL Drones Developed in Partnership With UK and Turkey
GEOSAT Aerospace Technology, one of Taiwan’s leading aviation and technology companies, purchased 160 Jackal VTOL drones developed in collaboration with Flyby Technology, a UK-based unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturer, and its Turkish partner, Fly BVLOS Technology. The pre-sale agreement was signed at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technologies Fair (TADTE) in Taiwan by Fly BVLOS Technology and Fly X Technology President Kamil Demirkapu and GEOSAT Aerospace Technology company representatives.
Regarding the matter, Fly BVLOS Technology posted on its X account, “a preliminary agreement has been signed for the purchase of 160 Jackals for Taiwan! Jackal, which met with visitors in different parts of the world, made an important sales agreement at the fair in Taiwan. According to the agreement made between our British partner FlyBy Technology and Geosat Aerospace Technology, one of Taiwan’s leading technology companies, at least 160 Jackal UAVs will be sold to Taiwan.”
JACKAL is a small, light, and compact unmanned aerial vehicle designed and developed by British Flyby Technology, Turkish Fly BVLOS Technology, and Maxwell Innovation. The R&D and design activities for the drone in question began in January 2022 at Dronepark, which is located in Gebze Technical University Technopark. On April 20, 2022, Fly BVLOS Technology conducted Jackal’s first flight at Gebze Technical University Dronepark, just four months after JACKAL’s initial conceptual design meeting. The system managed to stay in the air for 40 minutes on its first flight with its EDF engines.
The Jackal, which drew the interest of several countries in a short period of time, was exported to Britain on April 25, 2022. In July 2022, the British company Flyby Technology purchased the IP rights of the Jackal UAV.
After Jackal was exported to Britain, Fly X Joint Stock Company, which is also part of Fly BVLOS Technology, began working with Flyby Technology Company to convert Jackal into a UCAV version at the request of the British Ministry of Defense. Jackal conducted its first missile test launch in Britain in October 2022, following changes to its design and technical specifications. Following the selection of the UK, the Jackal conducted its first test-fire with Thales’ LMM (Lightweight Multirole Missile). In April 2023, the drone successfully fired another Thales LMM missile as part of the RAF’s RCO-sponsored test fire. The laser range finder aboard the LMM missile, which weighs 13 kg, is 1.3 m long, and has a range of 6 km, can determine the target distance.
Jackal has a reported carrying capacity of 15 kg and a range of 130 km, is intended to be used in areas such as cargo transportation, humanitarian aid, natural disaster relief, monitoring and observation, and sensitive data logistics in all types of weather and scenarios. Jackal also offers SATCOM satellite control, a 5-meter wingspan, a cruise speed of 108 km/h, a top speed of 160 km/h, and a maximum altitude of 4000 meters. The armed version of the drone, which can land and take off in any area without requiring a runway due to its VTOL capability, will be utilized for close air support and defense of military facilities, critical government institutions, bridges, and airports. It will be capable of providing immediate air support to military troops on the battlefield as well as performing point air defense and air support operations in dangerous areas.