Overwatch Group, a UK-based company specialising in advanced unmanned system and munitions technologies, is launching its products into the US market at the Special Operations Forces (SOF) Week 2024 event, which is being held in Tampa, Florida, from 6 to 10 May 2024.
Overwatch manufactures what it bills as “a pioneering coaxial drone and associated payload technology”. Its range of payload-agnostic, low-weight, high-effect loitering munitions are man-portable, allowing dismounted operators to respond at pace to ever-evolving tactical requirements in the battlespace.
Since 2022 Overwatch has delivered around 800 of its unmanned aerial precision strike systems in support of the UK’s contribution to global defence and security. Earlier this year Overwatch also participated in the US-hosted major army warfighting experiment in California as part of Project Convergence Capstone 4 (PC-C4). The exercise, with over 600 British Army troops along with thousands from six other nations, was undertaken to bring multinational forces together to establish how to combine situational awareness and command and control (C2).
As part of PC-C4, Overwatch contributed to an integrated reconnaissance and precision strike demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, providing a precision strike capability through its loitering munitions, which were integrated with higher-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets and into a wider C2 system.
For 2024 Overwatch says it is focusing heavily on bringing its next-generation coaxial drone systems to global markets, asserting that the company’s solutions are particularly relevant to US military requirements. Producing loitering munitions that are agnostic of payload, Overwatch has also been able to develop an array of energetic and non-energetic payloads that provide a wide range of effects, from precision strike to operational support, from a common platform.
“We are extremely proud of our veteran ethos of ‘Designed by soldiers for soldiers’,” Drew Michael, CEO at Overwatch Group, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “Our systems are built with the soldier in mind, to minimise the training burden and maximise operational flexibility with our approach that enables specific-to-task drone and payload configurations.
“As our R&D of cutting-edge drone and payload technologies continues to gather pace in line with our growth strategy, we are now well placed to extend our precision strike capabilities to wider markets,” Michael added. “We are delighted that US SOF Week 2024 provides us with this opportunity and we look forward to meeting people at the event.”
