British soldiers will soon be equipped with dozens of new spy drones that have been battle-tested in Ukraine. Credit: TekeverWes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, said: "Proven in Ukraine and designed to protect British soldiers globally, we've chosen the UK-based Tekever AR5 drone to supply our personnel with kit that will keep them ahead of emerging threats. The unmanned tech will replace the Army's Watchkeeper drones, which have been in service since 2014 but are being retired early after a series of embarrassing setbacks. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementThe drones were also plagued by operational problems, with eight of the 54 aircraft crashing since 2014. In November 2024, John Healey, the then defence secretary, took the decision to scrap the Watchkeeper fleet early, and said it would be retired in March last year.