U.S. Army buys Ukrainian Raybird unmanned aircraft

The U.S. Army has awarded a $10.6 million contract for Raybird unmanned aircraft hardware and services to Skyeton Inc., the American arm of Skyeton, a Ukrainian company that has spent the past several years proving the drone in combat over Ukraine.

Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, issued the firm-fixed-price contract after soliciting bids online and receiving just one, from Skyeton. The contract doesn’t specify a delivery location or exact funding upfront; both will be determined as individual orders are placed against it, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 15, 2026.

Raybird is a small, fixed-wing surveillance drone built for long missions rather than speed or firepower. It can stay airborne for close to 28 hours at a stretch, fly more than 2,500 km (1,550 miles) without landing, and operate at altitudes up to 5,500 meters (18,000 feet), carrying a sensor payload of 5 to 10 kilograms (11 to 22 pounds). The airframe is rated to work in temperatures ranging from minus 35°C to 55°C (minus 31°F to 131°F), a range meant to cover everything from Arctic cold to desert heat.

Skyeton was founded in Ukraine in 2006, originally building light sport aircraft before shifting toward unmanned systems. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Raybird has flown more than 350,000 combat hours for Ukrainian forces, mostly on long-range reconnaissance missions, and the company has marketed that record as evidence of low attrition rates and resilience against electronic jamming.

The Army contract adds the United States to a growing list of countries showing interest in the platform. Skyeton has formed a joint venture with British firm Prevail Partners, called Skyeton Prevail Solutions, to manufacture Raybird for NATO markets and to compete for a contract to replace the British Army’s aging Watchkeeper drone. The company has also partnered with French sensor maker Harmattan AI to integrate AI-driven payloads onto the aircraft, and sells Raybird in Poland through a local distributor. In the past year, Skyeton has added satellite communications to the system to remove range limits on its data link, and it has been testing a hydrogen fuel cell version of the aircraft in combat conditions in Ukraine since December 2025.

This appears to be among the first confirmed contracts putting Raybird directly into U.S. Army hands, following its adoption by Ukraine’s own military and growing interest from the UK and Poland. The Army has not said how many Raybird systems the $10.6 million will buy, which unit will operate them, or where the aircraft will ultimately be delivered.

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