The Innovaero OWL B precision munition is being designed to loiter for 30 minutes at a range of 100 km, or reach a maximum range of about 200 km. (BAE Systems)
The Australian government and Innovaero have signed a contract to accelerate the development of the company's One-Way Loitering B (OWL B) precision munition.
The contract, which Innovaero announced on 12 September at the Land Forces 2024 defence exposition in Melbourne, Australia, will move the OWL B programme “into a third phase in the development”, according to the company. The defence show was held from 11 to 13 September.
This phase comprises the manufacturing, testing, “and evaluation of the capability to further refine [the OWL B's] performance, reliability, and interoperability with existing Australian Defence Force (ADF) assets”, the company said in a press release.
The third phase is expected to build on a series of live-fire tests that Innovaero, Australian agencies, and the Australian Army oversaw in 2023–24. During this testing, the system “completed successful flight tests and payload integration”, the company said.
According to Innovaero CEO Marcus Colman, the “new phase builds on these successful tests and positions us to deliver a combat-ready system that meets the evolving needs of modern warfare”.
The third phase is also expected to accelerate the OWL B programme “towards operational readiness”, according to Innovaero, which added that the phase would involve the “rigorous testing of new units”.
The electrically propelled OWL B can be launched by catapult or pneumatically, when stored, with wings folded in a 2 m canister. Images of the loitering munition released by BAE Systems (which is a shareholder in Innovaero) shows that the munition is powered by a T Motors AT7215 KV220 brushless motor, weighing 565 g.
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