The order to design and build 54 Watchkeeper surveillance drones was announced by the then defence secretary John Reid in 2005, who said they would be “key to battlefield surveillance of the future”. He signed off on costs of about 800m, with the contract going to a consortium led by the French defence firm Thales.
The first Watchkeeper drones were expected to enter service from 2010 and be fully operational by 2013, but software glitches and army staff shortages have meant the date is now 2017 at the earliest.
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