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TEKEVER has unveiled the AR6, a new UK-built family of autonomous systems designed to expand the company’s operational portfolio into the heavy lift class for both military and civilian applications.
Aimed at addressing a core market gap in the heavy lift drone segment, the AR6 is designed to carry a 200kg payload over a range of 500km. This marks a significant step-change from current electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) platforms, which are typically limited to lifting up to 100kg over distances of 1 to 5km.
Designed and built in the UK alongside local SME partners, the sovereign heavy lift solution relies on specialist advances in hydraulic and propulsion technology. Built to withstand harsh operating environments, the platforms will be able to operate in very hot and cold conditions while maintaining minimal maintenance and sustainment costs, with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2026 at TEKEVER’s Swindon manufacturing hub.
The AR6 family opens up a wide variety of operational use cases previously unavailable to heavy lift electric quadcopters. Civil applications span logistics, offshore operations, medical support, search and rescue, and disaster relief. On the military side, potential missions include casualty evacuation, forward logistics, and combat wingman concepts, such as the UK Apache teaming concept under Project Nyx.
The platform combines novel propulsion technology with TEKEVER’s existing capabilities, including its ‘as a service’ operations, rapid design iteration, proprietary autonomy stack, and operational lessons from Ukraine. For defense operators, the military variant of the AR6 will be capable of operating without reliance on GNSS and will feature advanced ‘Mission Autonomy’ features for multi-platform swarming, crewed teaming, and survivability.
Ricardo Mendes, CEO of TEKEVER, commented, “AR6 represents the next evolution of our autonomous capability. For years, we’ve helped customers move information. Today, we’re extending that capability to moving what matters most. Autonomous Lift opens a new category of missions for TEKEVER and, more importantly, for our customers.”
Karl Brew, Head of TEKEVER UK, added, “The future of autonomy is about delivering operational outcomes. AR6 expands the envelop enabling us to leverage all of the experience we have built up in Ukraine and around the world into a whole new set of use cases.”
As a recognised European leader in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, the launch reflects TEKEVER’s broader mission-driven approach to expanding autonomous capabilities across security, defense, and civil applications.
