South African private-sector defence group Milkor, which works in the aerospace, cyber, ground, maritime and weapons sectors, has unveiled its latest aerospace project – the Milkor 780 uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) system. The Milkor 780 will be the biggest UAV ever developed in South Africa, Africa, and perhaps even in the southern hemisphere.

The new aircraft and associated system – a UAV system comprises the actual UAV, plus its various and varied payloads, its ground-based control system, and the communications links between these two elements – follows on from the success of the Milkor 380 UAV system.

While the Milkor 380 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (acronymed to MALE) UAV, the Milkor 780 will be a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAV. Although the 380 is already winning orders, the MALE UAV space is full of competitors. The HALE UAV market is currently being served by companies in only three countries – the US, China, and Turkey. Thus, this is a niche that Milkor can move into, quite confidently.

“This is a very exciting project,” affirms Milkor business development head Daniel du Plessis. “It’ll be a strategic asset.”

The development of the Milkor 780 is based on the experience gained from the 380, itself the (so far) biggest UAV produced in Africa. The new design, for example, will use the same software philosophy as the 380.

Milkor develops and writes the control software for its UAVs in-house, and does the same for key hardware in the systems. This is partly to avoid dependence on overseas suppliers, who may prove unreliable (not necessarily through any fault of their own) and the costs of whose products are vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations. But it is also to allow Milkor to upgrade its UAV systems, itself.

The Milkor 780 will have a maximum range of 9 300 km and a maximum endurance of 40 hours. Its wingspan will be 22 m. It will have a maximum take-off weight of 5 600 kg and a maximum payload of more than 2 700 kg (it will be fitted with nine hardpoints for payloads). Its maximum speed will be 315 km/h and its cruise speed will be 230 km/h. Its line-of-sight (LOS) communications range will be 250 km. (HALE UAVs usually use satellite communications systems instead of just LOS systems, and the 780 will also do so, to properly exploit their great ranges.)   

“The 780 project is currently in the detailed design stage, moving towards completed data packs and manufacturing should start later this year or early next year,” he reports. “Our assembly facility should be able to build two 780s at a time. The entire airframe will be built at the facility and all systems will be installed there.”

The 780 will be built at its own dedicated production facility, located in Cape Town. The facility was recently acquired and is currently being fitted out. Milkor’s provisional target is to display the first 780, and launch the aircraft on to the market, at the 2026 Africa Aerospace and Defence Exhibition, in Pretoria. But the company is not going to rush things to meet an arbitrary deadline. No image of the 780 has yet been released.

As for the Milkor 380, that has already won export orders and is now in the industrialisation phase. Deliveries to customers will start during this year. Development of the UAV is continuing, particularly to integrate new payloads, to meet customer requirements. Although Milkor can provide a wide range of payloads, sourced from the wider South African defence industry, customers often require that their own payloads be integrated on to aircraft.