The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced Project NYX on 15 May 2026, a £10 million initiative to develop autonomous unmanned aerial systems intended to operate alongside AH-64E Apache attack helicopters in contested operational environments.
Participants and next phase
Four industrial teams were selected to advance to the next competitive phase: Anduril UK, BAE Systems, Tekevert and Thales UK. These teams will develop concepts and technical solutions for the Apache-supporting drones.
Intended capabilities
The programme centres on the "loyal wingman" concept: drones that operate in concert with one or more helicopters. Planned roles include:
- intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR),
- target designation and marking for Apache crews,
- electronic warfare (EW),
- deception operations,
- coordination of strike effects.
These capabilities are intended to increase the survivability and operational flexibility of attack helicopters and to reduce direct exposure of aircrew to hostile air defences.
Human decision-making retained
The MoD emphasised that decisions on the use of weapons will remain under human control, adhering to a human-in-the-loop principle. While the drones will autonomously undertake sensing, navigation and rapid machine-enabled situational analysis and coordination, any firing will require human authorisation.
Strategic context
Project NYX is among the British armed forces' first operational-focused autonomy programmes and aligns with the Strategic Defence Review's priorities on artificial intelligence and autonomous combat systems. The initiative is part of a broader Western effort to prioritise autonomous aerial combat capabilities to achieve distributed lethality, faster decision cycles and risk reduction when preparing to face adversaries with comparable capabilities.
Next milestones
The four selected teams will progress through competitive development; the MoD will later decide which solutions move to field trials and potential procurement. Beyond the announced £10 million envelope, the initial announcement did not specify detailed timelines for testing or deployment.
