Images posted on LinkedIn by Certo Aerospace CEO Justin Tooth show the company’s CAPSTONE uncrewed helicopter undergoing ground trials with air-to-surface missile simulators, as the British SME prepares to compete for the British Army’s Project NYX loyal wingman requirement alongside BAE Systems.
The photographs show the coaxial CAPSTONE fitted with stub wing pylons carrying what appear to be Hellfire-class missile simulators, with a technician seen preparing the system for a trial.
The testing makes clear that Certo has been actively developing a weapons integration capability ahead of the Project NYX competition, which calls for uncrewed systems capable of operating alongside Apache attack helicopters across reconnaissance, target acquisition, electronic warfare, and precision strike missions.
The Apache’s primary air-to-ground weapon is the Hellfire missile, and a loyal wingman platform capable of carrying or cueing similar munitions is a pretty meaningful enhancement to Apache crews operating in contested environments, extending their reach and reducing the exposure of the crewed aircraft to threats.
BAE Systems Air announced the partnership with Certo via LinkedIn, describing the CAPSTONE as a sovereign UK solution ready to meet the Army’s needs. Certo Aerospace was founded in 2008, is UK veteran-led, and holds all intellectual property in the UK.
According to the company’s website, the CAPSTONE can carry payloads of up to 300 kilograms across a range of up to 300 miles with up to ten hours endurance. The airframe features a folding rotorhead and modular undercarriage, can be prepared for launch within minutes, fits inside an ISO container, and is operable from ships at sea. The platform has been in flight trials since 2017 and is now in its third year of testing, operating under both UK Civil Aviation Authority and US Department of Defense authorisations.
The BAE Systems and Certo pairing joins a competitive field for Project NYX. The MoD has confirmed four shortlisted partners, Anduril Industries, BAE Systems, Tekever, and Thales UK, with up to two selected for prototype development in autumn 2026 and an operational variant targeted for fielding by 2030. The £10 million programme is being delivered in conjunction with UK Defence Innovation.
But is this better than a drone equivalent that can be around in numbers and rotated for constant overwatch?
I suspect this has a higher ceiling but I’m surprised the payload is only 300kg?
Still a useful something that actually exists.
I thought 300kg was pretty impressive, and I don’t see why it couldn’t be available using rotations. If they are aiming it as Apache wingman, rather than an ISR drone, I don’t think it will get used that way by the Army, but I recall it was tested for the Navy earlier in the year on ASW, so a ship like a T31 could rotate a couple of them, if Proteus is thought too big.
This is a 600kg class drone, one step up from Peregrine, which is built on the S100 Camcopter. It closer to the S300, with a bit smaller MTOW and a larger advertised payload. That’s probably real due to the coaxial rotors that gives better lift. It’s a fair bit smaller than the 3 ton Proteus.
Is this just a case of spending even more money on loyal wing man drones to justify the existence of Apache. Hard to see how any of these assets are going to last more than a few days on a modern battlefield if they can even deploy into theatre in the first place due to air bases being gutted.
Satellite images are now showing the USA took a real pounding from Iran in the conflict with 18 bases severely damaged. It’s going to be tricky to even get attack helicopters into theatre in future.
If we keep the same number of apaches then spend a lot of money augmenting them with drones then we end up with a much larger and more powerful force but that force may be a waste of money compared to spade based assets and long range effectors and drones.
Very expensive short ranged aviation platforms seem to be bucking the trend of modern warfare.