Portuguese firm to provide drones to Ukraine through British-led fund

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to more fully describe AR3 operators worldwide.

MILAN — Portuguese drone manufacturer Tekever has told Defense News it will provide some of its long-endurance systems to Kyiv to support land and maritime operations , a move bankrolled by the United Kingdom’s International Fund for Ukraine .

Earlier this month, the British Defence Ministry shared a video on social media showcasing military equipment being provided by the IFU account to Ukrainian troops. Launched last summer, the first IFU deliveries — funded by Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the U.K. — will begin to arrive in July.

Open-source intelligence analysts were quick to identify what appears to be Malloy T150 quadcopters manufactured by the British company Malloy Aeronautics, the DeltaQuad Pro VTOL drone produced by Dutch firm DeltaQuad, and the Astero ISR system from Denmark’s Nordic Wing. Two other unspecified drone models can be seen in the footage, with one shown taking off vertically and launched via catapult.

The British Defence Ministry declined to comment on specific platforms in the video.

Defense News can, however, confirm that one of the two unidentified drones is the Tekever AR3 Vertical Takeoff and Landing system, manufactured by the Lisbon-based firm Tekever.

“Yes, our Tekever AR3 system is depicted in the video produced by the UK MoD,” a company representative told Defense News. “It includes images of the drone being deployed with support of a catapult — which we can use for extended endurance operations up to 16 hours — and in an optional VTOL configuration. Each operator can easily choose which variant it wants to use for a specific mission.”

Tekever’s CEO and founder, Ricardo Mendes, added that the company is “very proud to support Ukraine and thankful to the UK MoD and IFU for allowing us to contribute to one of the most important causes of our lifetime.”

The AR3 is a small, long-endurance drone designed to provide wide-area surveillance for both land and maritime missions. It has a maximum payload capacity of 4 kilograms (9 pounds), can fly at a cruise speed of 75-90 kph (47-56 mph) and can also be recovered via parachute.

Some of the military operators of the AR3 include Portugal, the UK, and Nigeria. Hence, its label in the footage, NAF 167 (an acronym used for the Nigerian Air Force), raised the question as to where the drones were purchased from.

“I can confirm that Nigeria purchased a number of the Tekever AR3 platforms from Tekever Ltd. of Portugal. However, all the drones acquired are currently operating in Nigeria — none have been donated in any way or form to Ukraine or any other country,” Maj. MS Muhammad, deputy defense adviser to the Nigeria High Commission in the U.K., told Defense News.

He added that the drone shown in the video with the NAF 167 label, which does indeed stand for Nigerian Air Force, “must have been provided by the manufacturer, or the clip used in the said tweet might have come from the company’s promotional videos, as the model with that particular number is presently in use in Nigeria.”

It is important to note that the individual platforms showcased in the video are not necessarily the final ones that Ukraine will receive, but rather were provided by industry partners to display some capabilities provided as part of the first $212 million defense package announced in February.

The second IFU procurement, referred to as Urgent Bidding Round 2, launched on April 11. The first capability package resulting from that second round was announced earlier this week and will include a $188 million air defense package. Capabilities requested include sensors to detect and track cruise missiles, low-flying drones and/or ballistic missiles, air burst rounds for cannon-based air defense systems, and sensor-guided air defense cannons to defeat low-flying drones and cruise missiles.

Johan Hjelmstrand, a press officer for Sweden’s defense minister, noted much of the IFU account is unspent, and that some companies either do not go public with related contracts or that not all contracts are yet signed, but that “more packages are on the way.”

In terms of how the fund operates, Martynas Bendikas, a strategic adviser with the Lithuanian Defence Ministry’s public affairs team, explained that defense ministries contribute only with financial resources. Following this, an international public tender is organized for specific military equipment, and all seven countries’ companies can participate.

“However, so far, Lithuanian drones are being sent to Ukraine in other formats,” she said.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

编者按：本文已更新，以更全面地描述全球 AR3 运营商的情况。

米兰——葡萄牙无人机制造商 Tekever 向《防务新闻》透露，该公司将向基辅提供一些长航时无人机系统，以支持陆地和海上行动，此举由英国的乌克兰国际基金资助。

本月初，英国国防部在社交媒体上发布了一段视频，展示了通过“国际援助计划”（IFU）向乌克兰军队提供的军事装备。该计划于去年夏天启动，首批物资——由丹麦、冰岛、立陶宛、挪威、瑞典、荷兰和英国共同出资——将于7月开始交付。

开源情报分析人员迅速识别出视频中出现的疑似无人机型号，包括英国马洛伊航空（Malloy Aeronautics）公司生产的马洛伊T150四旋翼无人机、荷兰德尔塔夸德公司（DeltaQuad）生产的德尔塔夸德Pro垂直起降无人机，以及丹麦北欧之翼公司（Nordic Wing）的阿斯特罗ISR系统。视频中还出现了另外两款未指明型号的无人机，其中一款显示其垂直起飞，并通过弹射器发射。

英国国防部拒绝就视频中提及的具体平台发表评论。

不过，《防务新闻》可以确认，这两架身份不明的无人机中有一架是里斯本 Tekever 公司生产的 Tekever AR3 垂直起降系统。

“是的，英国国防部制作的视频中展示了我们的Tekever AR3系统，”该公司一位代表告诉《防务新闻》。“视频中包含无人机在弹射器辅助下部署的画面——我们可以利用弹射器实现长达16小时的续航时间——以及可选的垂直起降（VTOL）配置。每个操作员都可以轻松选择适合特定任务的型号。”

Tekever 的首席执行官兼创始人 Ricardo Mendes 补充说，该公司“非常自豪能够支持乌克兰，并感谢英国国防部和 IFU 让我们能够为我们一生中最重要的事业之一做出贡献。”

AR3是一款小型长航时无人机，旨在为陆地和海上任务提供大范围监视。它的最大有效载荷为4公斤（9磅），巡航速度为75-90公里/小时（47-56英里/小时），并且可以通过降落伞回收。

AR3无人机的部分军方用户包括葡萄牙、英国和尼日利亚。因此，视频中无人机的标签“NAF 167”（尼日利亚空军的缩写）引发了人们的疑问：这些无人机是从哪里购买的？

“我可以确认，尼日利亚从葡萄牙Tekever有限公司购买了一批Tekever AR3平台无人机。然而，所有购置的无人机目前都在尼日利亚境内使用——没有以任何方式或形式捐赠给乌克兰或其他任何国家，”尼日利亚驻英国高级专员公署副国防顾问穆罕默德少校告诉《防务新闻》。

他还补充说，视频中出现的带有 NAF 167 标签的无人机（NAF 167 的确代表尼日利亚空军）“一定是制造商提供的，或者该推文中使用的片段可能来自该公司的宣传视频，因为带有该特定编号的型号目前正在尼日利亚使用。”

值得注意的是，视频中展示的各个平台不一定是乌克兰最终将获得的平台，而是由行业合作伙伴提供，用于展示作为 2 月份宣布的首批 2.12 亿美元国防计划的一部分所提供的一些能力。

第二轮综合功能单元（IFU）采购，即第二轮紧急招标，于4月11日启动。本周早些时候公布了第二轮招标的首个能力包，其中包括价值1.88亿美元的防空系统。所需能力包括用于探测和跟踪巡航导弹、低空无人机和/或弹道导弹的传感器；用于火炮防空系统的空爆弹；以及用于拦截低空无人机和巡航导弹的传感器制导防空炮。

瑞典国防部长新闻官约翰·耶尔姆斯特兰德指出，IFU账户中大部分资金尚未支出，一些公司要么没有公开相关合同，要么并非所有合同都已签署，但“更多项目正在筹备中”。

关于该基金的运作方式，立陶宛国防部公共事务团队战略顾问马蒂纳斯·本迪卡斯解释说，国防部只提供财政资源。之后，会组织一次针对特定军事装备的国际公开招标，所有七个国家的公司都可以参与。

“然而，到目前为止，立陶宛无人机是以其他形式运往乌克兰的，”她说。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。