TRV-150 Drone Uses Three-Pod APKWS Launcher in Counter-UAS Test

The test demonstrated sequential engagement of multiple aerial targets without landing to reload, as BAE Systems looks to extend the capability to maritime operations.

A modified version of Malloy Aeronautics’ T-150 Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), designated TRV-150, intercepted multiple one-way attack drones during trials at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in late September, according to BAE Systems. The U.K.-developed platform fired laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) rockets from a three-pod launcher, engaging successive targets without landing to reload.

The test took place as part of a Mission Capabilities Joint Readiness Experimentation exercise of the Department of War’s (DoW) Office of the Under Secretary for Research & Engineering, or OUSW(R&E).

The latest test builds on an earlier APKWS firing demonstration at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in 2025. On that occasion, the drone conducted single-shot engagements against both air and land targets, while the new trial introduced a three-pod launcher designed to engage multiple aerial targets in succession.

Held in collaboration with BAE Systems’ Maryland-based partner SURVICE Engineering, the latest test “demonstrated how low-cost precision weapons can be integrated onto uncrewed platforms to counter the growing drone threats on the battlefield,” the release said.

The TRV-150 has intercepted multiple one-way attack drones in a single mission, without landing to reload. During trials at Eglin Air Force Base, the modified Malloy T-150 fired laser-guided APKWS rockets from a three-pod launcher to intercept several air targets.

Low-cost. Precise. Delivered at pace.

Find out more: https://t.co/SkGYjIJun0

Footage taken from earlier trials at Fort Rucker in May 2026. Credit US Army.

— BAE Systems Air (@BAESystemsAir) October 21, 2026

Building upon the latest trial’s results, BAE Systems said it plans to explore the use of the T-150/TRV-150 in the maritime environment, potentially extending its counter-drone role to operations at sea. Recent conflicts have seen warships facing the asymmetric threat of Houthi projectiles in the Red Sea.

APKWS-armed TRV-150s would be a significantly cheaper and simpler counter-drone option compared to the use of standard anti-air defenses. However, the maritime application remains a future development objective rather than a demonstrated operational capability.

The test

BAE said that the TRV-150 was “equipped with a three-pod launcher firing BAE Systems’ laser-guided APKWS rockets to engage several targets in succession without landing or reloading.” The company did not disclose the exact number of targets engaged or provide a detailed breakdown of the engagements.

The available imagery shows the launcher, with a total of the tubes for rockets, mounted beneath the multirotor airframe. BAE systems has not publicly identified the exact target-drone types or disclosed detailed engagement footage from the late-September trials, only releasing footage of a previous test in May 2026 at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

The company says the aircraft intercepted multiple one-way attack drones, but the precise number of targets and engagements remains unspecified. Considering that the drone could carry up to three APKWS rockets and the engagements were conducted without landing to rearm, the number of targets engaged could be up to three.

The success of the latest tests has now laid the groundwork “to extend the T-150’s use in this way to the maritime environment, with the aim of ultimately helping protect customers from similar threats at sea,” the release said. Thomas Lancashire, head of UAS business development at BAE Systems’ FalconWorks division, said the company responded to current drone threats faced by customers, moving from “concept to a proven system, which can engage multiple targets in a single mission.”

We took the TRV-150, a heavy-lift uncrewed platform already proven in logistics, integrated a precision rocket system and demonstrated multi-target engagement in a single mission – no landing, no reloading.

We went from concept to operational trial in months; that’s what relevant, rapid development looks like https://t.co/DmQXwUhXBz

— BAE Systems (@BAESystemsplc) October 21, 2026

While SURVICE Engineering adapted the TRV-150 to the U.S. Army requirements, BAE Systems’ Falcon Works division developed and integrated the APKWS modification kit, said the company. SURVICE’s president Gregory Thompson said the company lived up to its ethos of supporting the U.S. warfighter by “adding APKWS as a proven, precise, and cost-effective capability to our TRV-150 UAS platform.”

The APKWS is a popular weapon used against drones, both in the European theater and the conflicts in West Asia, employed by Ukrainian air defenses and by U.S. aircraft, respectively. Royal Air Force Typhoons too have been operationally deployed with APKWS at RAF Akrotiri.

Just a few days ago, the Pentagon signed a framework agreement with BAE Systems to procure up to 25,000 APKWS kits annually for up to seven years, with provisions to increase production capacity to 35,000 kits per year. Additional countries are also working to add APKWS to their counter-drone defenses.

Counter the threat. Control the cost.

Combat proven for more than a decade, the APKWS® laser-guidance kit bridges the gap between unguided rockets and larger anti-armour munitions.

Visit booth 55 at #GlobalDefenceAviation in Poland this week.

Find out more https://t.co/deofNcPE8F

— BAE Systems, Inc. (@BAESystemsInc) October 20, 2026

TRV-150

The T-150 is developed by Malloy Aeronautics, a British company now owned by BAE Systems. The TRV-150 is a modified version adapted for U.S. military requirements.

Referring to this, BAE said: “These latest tests build on the first-ever single-shot firing of a precision munition from an adapted T-150 in July last year, extending that capability through the use of a production-ready three-pod launcher system to engage with air targets.”

From drawing board to demonstration in a few months. We’ve integrated the APKWS munition with the TRV-150, achieving a 100% strike rate.

The T-150 is low-cost and easy to deploy. This strike and C-UAS capability adds another role to this proven and versatile platform.

https://t.co/rIbn6ylRc0

@SURVICEEng @MalloyAero @BAESystemsInc

— BAE Systems Air (@BAESystemsAir) July 17, 2025

The standard T-150 has already demonstrated its logistics utility with the Royal Navy. During the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group’s eight-month Indo-Pacific deployment in 2025, the drones conducted ship-to-ship resupply missions. That feat was also highlighted by BAE Systems in its latest press release.