Israeli attack drone maker hits a big production milestone

Israeli manufacturer SpearUAV says it has nearly 1,000 Viper 300 loitering munitions ready for delivery to customers worldwide, while withholding their identities and locations. The capsule-launched quadcopter weighs 2.8 kilograms with its payload, has a five-kilometre range, flies for up to 20 minutes and reaches about 27 metres per second. Designed for dismounted troops or armoured vehicles, it can hover, use onboard artificial intelligence to identify a target and then strike it. SpearUAV reports producing hundreds of systems monthly but has not quantified the contracts represented by the delivery-ready inventory.