BAE exhibited a new type of drone. At the Australian Air Show in February 2023, the "STRIX" UAV jointly developed by BAE Systems Australia Branch and Innovaero Company was made public for the first time.
STRIX has a unique aerodynamic design, with a range of over 800 kilometers and a maximum payload of 160 kg. STRIX has a folding area of 2.6m x 4.5. Because of its small size, it can be transported in standard containers.
In terms of airborne ammunition, BAE will equip STRIX with RAZER series smart ammunition and other ammunition.
STRIX is a multi-purpose UAV, which can perform reconnaissance, intelligence, surveillance and ground attack tasks, and can also be used as a "loyal wingman" for manned helicopters. It will serve in 2026 at the earliest.
MQ-9B is used for Japanese testing According to the report of GA-ASI in official website on February 28th, 2023, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force chose this company's MQ-9B as the tester for the verification project of medium and high altitude remote-controlled UAV system, which will start from April 2023.
MQ-9B UAV is equipped with imaging mode inverse synthetic aperture radar, automatic identification system receiver and full dynamic video sensor with high-resolution infrared camera, which can monitor and identify thousands of square nautical miles of surface ships in real time and automatically track maritime targets.