Anduril UK will work with GKN Aerospace on a proposal for Project NYX, the development of a new UAV designed to work in tandem with AH-64E Apache helicopters.
Project NYX, which sets out the process for the delivery of a demonstrator for the Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) program, is expected to have a contract awarded to a winning bid by Q3 of 2026. The full tender notice is due to be released on Dec. 19, 2025, and the contract is presently valued at £100 million. The resulting ACP aircraft will be highly autonomous – with the pipeline notice using the phrase ‘commanded not controlled’ – and offer intelligence, reconnaissance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities in addition to launched effects. The primary customer is the British Army, who seek to use the ACP in a ‘loyal wingman’ type role alongside its fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
Anduril, mostly known for its developments for U.S. forces like the YFQ-44A, has built an increasingly large presence in the UK. In March 2025, the company’s UK subsidiary agreed a £30 million deal with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply Altius loitering munitions through the UK to Ukraine. Over the previous two years, Anduril UK’s workforce has increased tenfold from just four up to 40 staff, and the company plans to open a factory and research facility in the UK over the coming years.
Their new partner, GKN Aerospace, is a subsidiary of the wider GKN brand which has been operating in the UK since 1759. Opening as an ironworks, then evolving to work with steel, the company underwent a major restructuring in the 1990s which saw focus shift to military vehicles, including aircraft. GKN acquired famed UK manufacturer Westland in 1994 before divesting their share to Finnmeccanica in 2004. Today the company’s 3,600 UK-based employees are spread across six locations, supplying products to Airbus, Boeing, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and many more major manufacturers. The Anduril partnership’s focus is on the 1,000 personnel working at GKN’s Cowes, Isle of Wight site.
The Managing Director of Anduril UK, Rich Drake, celebrated the news: “This partnership with GKN Aerospace is an exciting next step in our journey to provide and deliver innovative, sovereign solutions to the UK MOD. As we work together to create novel solutions to continuously evolving threats, we are committed to utilising the full depth and breadth of British engineering talent to provide sovereign solutions to British service personnel.”
GKN Aerospace’s Dave Bond, Senior Vice President of Defence Technology, added: “This is an extremely exciting partnership, combining cutting edge technologies and world-class industrial capabilities. Together, GKN Aerospace and Anduril will bring all-new defence solutions to the field in rapid time. This is the start of a deep and strategic partnership and I look forward to collaborating with Anduril UK for many years to come.”
📢 Big news from #Cowes: @GKNAero & @anduriltech have signed a teaming agreement to advance the UK’s next-gen UAV & rotorcraft capability, in collaboration with @flyarcher.
The partnership could create 100+ skilled jobs.
Full release 👉 https://t.co/RMJH2JbaQi pic.twitter.com/za1k9KjUDi
— GKN Aerospace (@GKNAero) December 9, 2025
The exact form of the UAV requirement for Project NYX is not completely specified at present, though the mockup aircraft tail section shown off by Anduril’s press release as well as the involvement of Archer Aviation suggests the Anduril/GKN bid will favor a tiltrotor aircraft approach. Interestingly, this would almost certainly cause a mismatch in speed capability compared to the AH-64E it is intended to operate alongside – however, it could be envisioned that the ACP platform will be tasked with flying ahead of the manned Apache to provide extended sensor and engagement ranges without risking the lives of personnel.
Next Steps
Project NYX is envisioned as only the first step in a long-running partnership between GKN Aerospace and Anduril UK. Andrew Kinniburgh, Director-General of Make UK Defence – a not-for-profit trade association for the UK defence industry – suggested the two company’s individual strengths will provide value on both ends of the partnership: “Today’s announcement of Anduril and GKN Aerospace’s partnership is a vote of confidence in our growing sector; bringing together a legendary engineering business like GKN and a technology led business like Anduril lays the foundations for more highly skilled and well paid jobs in the Isle of Wight and across the UK.”
It additionally means that Anduril UK has secured a significant foothold into a large scale UK-based manufacturing capability, even ahead of the opening of its own planned production facility. Less than ten years old, Anduril now has fully owned subsidiaries in the UK and Australia, and it is in the process of building up Anduril Japan – an office having been established in Tokyo on Dec. 3 – and Anduril South Korea.
Anduril is now in Japan.
Today we establish our Tokyo office and appoint Patrick Hollen to lead Anduril Japan.
This goes beyond geographic expansion. It’s critical we build a technological advantage with our allies in the Indo-Pacific.
“By combining Japan’s technological… pic.twitter.com/No9k31jJHe
— Anduril Industries (@anduriltech) December 3, 2025
No other manufacturers have yet publicly staked out their bid for Project NYX, though the competition is likely to pique the interest of at least a few more bidders. On the same day as Anduril and GKN Aerospace’s announcement of a (likely) tilrotor design, UK-based electric VTOL (eVTOL) tiltrotor aircraft manufacturer Vertical Aerospace announced their intent to introduce a commercial eVTOL airtaxi service from Canary Wharf, London starting in 2029.
Vertical Aerospace is partnering with Bristow Group for this proposal, though the company has also previously worked with GKN Aerospace.
