The UK’s ambitious plans to field an operational ‘swarming drone’ capability by the middle of this year looks to be in doubt as the experimental unit dedicated to developing the concept has yet to be stood-up.
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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Jane’s on 7 January that 216 Squadron has not yet been activated and that announcements pertaining to its status and future location are “to be confirmed”. The unit was scheduled to be activated by the end of 2019 and the spokesperson did not give a reason for the delay.
In February 2019 the then-Secretary of State for Defence, Gavin Williamson, said that by the end of that year the Royal Air Force (RAF) would operationally field “swarm squadrons of network-enabled drones capable of confusing and overcoming enemy air defence systems”.