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BAE Systems recently carried out the successful trial of precision munitions launched from a multi-rotor Uncrewed Air System (UAS) TRV-150, a modified version of the BAE Systems’ Malloy T-150. A company spokesperson spoke with Zona Militar about this trial and the future of this program.
The trial took place at the US Army Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The test involved the TRV-150 equipped with a BAE Systems’ Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guidance kit, which launched a rocket towards a stationary target (a vehicle) and another rocket against an aerial drone. While the company has not disclosed the distance between the TRV-150 and the targets, the guidance system can lock on targets over six kilometers away.
This event was “the first air-to-air engagement of an APKWS guidance kit from a UAS, building on its decades-long presence on combat aircraft including the F-16, F-18 and Apache helicopter,” explained a 17 July BAE press release. BAE told ZM that the integration of the APKWS munition, loading it aboard the drone and the successful trial at Dugway, “took just four months from drawing board to demonstration.” The quickness of this unique and innovative integrated solution is significant.
BAE informed ZM about the program’s future. The next stage, already underway, “is to modify the system to incorporate” lessons from the Dugway trials to “make enhancements aimed at improving the ease of use of the system.” By the end of 2025, a new phase of evaluations is expected, based on the upgraded systems. Additional enhancements and trials are expected to occur throughout 2026.
ZM asked BAE about interest from the US Army, US Marine Corps (which already uses a variation of the drone, the SURVICE TRV-150), or the British armed forces. The company confirmed “we have experienced significant interest in the trials and received requests for debriefs” from US, UK, and international military customers. The contractor-funded demonstration was aligned with the US Department of Defense’s focus on uncrewed systems and human-machine interface (HMI) within military formations, BAE told ZM.
Both the Malloy T-150 and SURVICE TRV-150 UASs were designed as logistics platforms to transport supplies to frontline operations, without putting humans at risk. The systems can transport weapons or other supplies, carry out mine-clearing missions, or even provide smoke obscuration on the battlefield; both systems are designed for use in maritime or land environments. The T-150 is already under evaluation by the UK Royal Navy’s carrier strike group. (The US Marine Corps is also looking for a similar system, called a Logistics Connector.)
The company believes this integrated system transforms unguided rockets into precision-guided munitions, thereby providing “a low-cost, highly effective solution that has multi-role capabilities,” like low-cost strikes and counter-UAS solutions for frontline troops. Adding an APWKS as a payload to a UAS “adds a new kinetic capability to a system originally fielded as a logistics platform.”
Malloy Aeronautics, producer of the Malloy UAS, is a BAE Systems-owned entity. Survice Engineering Company is the producer of the TRV 150. BAE told ZM that the successful and speedy integration and demonstration of the APWKS and the UAS involved collaboration with other partners, including Invariant Corporation, L3Harris, GD UK, and Arnold Defence.
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