The UK has announced the retirement of its Watchkeeper Mk 1 drones by March 2025 as part of a broader effort to modernise the Armed Forces and adapt to evolving threats.
The decision, unveiled by Defence Secretary John Healey, reflects the rapid pace of technological advancements in unmanned aerial systems and lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.
Healey outlined the rationale for retiring the Watchkeeper system, stating: “A modern army must self-evidently have a modern drone capability able to operate in the most challenging environments. Following the retirement of Watchkeeper Mk 1, the Army will rapidly switch to a new advanced capability, drawing on the most recent operational lessons and technological developments.”
Introduced in 2010, the Watchkeeper programme faced significant delays and cost overruns, becoming a symbol of the challenges in fielding new technology. Despite its potential to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, the system often struggled to meet operational requirements.
The decommissioning of the Watchkeeper is part of a broader initiative to retire outdated equipment across the UK Armed Forces, a move set to save up to £500 million over five years. These savings will be reinvested into defence, with Healey emphasising: “We face increasing global threats—war in Europe, growing Russian aggression, and technology changing the nature of warfare. Defence needs increased resilience and readiness for the future.”
The Army is expected to replace the Watchkeeper with a more advanced drone system that can operate effectively in contested environments. Healey noted: “These decisions deliver better value for money and ensure we are in a better position to modernise and strengthen UK defence.”
While Watchkeeper’s retirement signifies the end of a troubled chapter in UK defence procurement, it opens the door for next-generation technologies to enhance the British Army’s operational effectiveness.
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Also to be decommissioned:
Amphibious assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark
Type 23 frigate, HMS Northumberland,
Tankers, RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler
Fourteen CH-47 Chinook helicopters
Seventeen Puma helicopters
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k0292v0w1o
Will we have anything left ? It’s just astonishing how our military has been dismantled in the last 30 years.
To be fair a further batch of 14 chinook are on order and a Puma replacement is planned (re. e the bbc piece you posted) As for the rest, no great surprises. Many folk on this site called it re Albion and Bulwark . Watch this space, more to come in 2025 .
Massive cuts as planned, Britain is on its way to becoming a middle power and in some aspects irrelevant. Add the storage of an aircraft carrier to the list.
That is Labour at its best. They scrapped the RN,s carrier fleet in the 60,s/70,s. Gave up east of suez bases pretty much turned the RN into a anti submarine force. Blair and Brown took us into 2 wars robbing this country of its treasure and hundreds of British lives while at the same time cutting the forces. Tories definitely not much better and now this crowd. We were short of chinooks when I was in Afghanistan now we are scrapping 14 and 17 pumas without replacement. That’s another 23 gone without replacement and now 2 amphibious ships without replacement. Labours idea of defense of the realm is to make it defenceless
14 new Chinooks already ordered. AW149 about to be ordered to replace the Puma and Dauphin.
And while we’re waiting for them to be built more capability “holidays”
About to be ordered isn’t actually ordered and on their way is it? Says it all when everybody else pulled out of the bidding doesn’t it!
and the Tories achieved what?
Fewer cuts than Blair and Brown Also you should perhaps note that all the orders currently in the pipeline are all from the Tory government. Were they as good as we would have liked.? No. Will labour be better? NO.
These platforms had already effectively been cut, so a bit early to blame Labour. The question is what happens next and that we will have to wait to next years SDSR. The key is to remember these cuts and not let early announcement mean that what happens with the review doesn’t include these cuts.
Ive not been a fan of what Watchkeeper turned out like…and Im actually happy to see them gone!
We had better options and we wasted ££ on a drone thats had little use, but many problems
As for the rest being scrapped… well we need replacements ASAP, which as we all know a sense of urgency is nowhere to be seen!
I wonder what shape the replacements will take – a swarm of recon drones, be interesting to see.
Watchkeeper felt like a decade old tech when it first came out and has had countless issues, should have been dumped a long time ago.
Watchkeeper is for asymmetrical warfare not peer warfare. However if we ever had to fight an asymmetrical war they would be in their element. Can we be certain we’d only ever fight a peer from now on, what if we needed to keep watch on ISIS or similar? If the answer is we will have protector then the question is why did we ever order Watchkeeper (Hermes 450) in the first place, that’s a billion down the drain.
There is nothing comparable at the moment to Watchkeeper and its radar.
It is a capability that is lost.
Maybe it is a a correct decision and money for its operation can be put to in a better place in the future but at moment it is a loss of capability.
That was 2 billon pissed against the wall then…
Heard it elsewhere, a carrier pigeon with a GoPro strapped to it would be more capable …
It made me laugh anyway…
For the love of God, OFF THE BLOODY SHELF REPLACEMENT PLEASE!!!!!
geez John that’s really funny- made my day!
That was 2 billon pissed against the wall then…
Heard it elsewhere, a carrier pigeon with a GoPro strapped to it would be more capable …
It made me laugh anyway…
For the love of God, OFF THE BLOODY SHELF REPLACEMENT PLEASE!!!!!
Your welcome mate!
The timing could not be better! This news is a net loss of assets regardless of replacements. However, Mr Putin might delay things in the coming weeks and months?
Apparently Watchkeeper had just been updated with GTMI Radar.
Just like Sentinel, discarded.
Is this yet another capability gap? How many years before the replacement.
It is another capability gap.
I think the radar was already there, maybe an upgrade?
Would they buy a SAR radar pod for the Typhoon? don’t seem very wise to use flight hours for that.
We were only discussing this particular slow motion car crash the other week mate…
I’m hoping for a nice simple off the shelf solution, I suspect of something cheaper and less capable, with a tasked Protector for the more demanding missions…
“the Army will rapidly switch to a new advanced capability”
What is “rapidly” ?
Depends how slow you perseve time really, blink of an eye for an oak tree….
Good riddance. A Sopwith Strutter with the guy in the back holding a camera would have been cheaper and more effective.