Earlier in 2021, British soldiers were using a surveillance variant of Drone 40, made by\u00a0Defendtex<\/a>, an Australian company, in Mali, Africa, on missions,\u00a0The Drive<\/a>\u00a0reported. Though the British military were using them via hand-launched versions rather than in their grenade launchers, at the time.<\/p>\n The Defendtex Drone 40 has a GPS-based autopilot system that can be fired from a grenade launcher or put aloft by hand, according to the company website.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a reusable device and can has a quick-field change payload bay for a variety of drone-based packages, according to the website.<\/p>\n The drone weighs less than half a pound, once launched it extends to 7 inches, can fly for 30 to 60 minutes and has a maximum range of 20km.<\/p>\n Current payloads include surveillance, electronic warfare, kinetic, smoke\/flash and laser designator, according to the company website.<\/p>\n Marines in the published photos were launching the drone by hand and retrieving the device with a net system for reuse.<\/p>\n The Marines are upgrading their grenade launching capabilities by fielding the M320 standalone grenade launcher for better accuracy than the old M203 launcher that was attached beneath the barrel on an M16A2 service rifle.<\/p>\n The Corps publicly began the search for a tube-launched drone that could surveil or serve as a loitering munition back in 2018, Marine Corps Times\u00a0previously reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n The request back then was for a drone that could conduct fire support at distances of 40-60km and be used in all operating environments.<\/p>\n The same proposal wanted secure communications links and GPS-enabled for operators to guide the drone between 25 to 60km away.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/drone02.jpg\")
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