Here’s The Best Military Drones From Around The World
Thales Watchkeeper WK450
Drones are being produced at cheaper rates for better performance today – but before we got to this point, we had to slog through the early phases of UAV. Enter: the Watchkeeper. The British Army uses the Watchkeeper WK450 for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance. It’s not the prettiest or stealthiest bird, but it works. Its first flight was in 2010 but it didn’t reach initial operability until 2018 (although there are reports that it was used in Afghanistan as early as 2014).
The UAV is a joint venture from Elbit Systems and Thales Group and is based of the Elbit Hermes 450. The Thales Watchkeeper WK450 is capable of remaining in air for upwards of 17 hours.
Thales Watchkeeper WK450: $16.6 million per unit