£30million Army drone plunges into sea in latest failure for £1.2bn scheme
A WATCHKEEPER Army drone costing £30million has plunged into the sea — the seventh in the £1.2billion programme to crash.
The unmanned surveillance craft, weighing almost half a ton and with 11-metre wings, took off from a base in Cyprus.
It is made in Britain by French firm Thales and first entered service in Afghanistan in 2014 — but there are fears it has trouble navigating in poor weather.
Half the fleet has been grounded for more than a year.
Former Armed Forces minister Mark Francois fumed: “The MoD must get a grip.
“This system, which entered service years late, has been plagued by problems.
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“Yet we see other drones performing successfully in Ukraine, on an almost daily basis.”
The latest crash happened on May 29 during a routine training flight.
They are flown by the 47th Regiment Royal Artillery, based at Larkhill, Wilts.
The drones can “see” up to 200km and fly for 14 hours at a time, and are also used to monitor the Channel for migrant boats.
The Army the Watchkeeper crashed "during routine flying training" from its Akrotiri base in Cyprus.
A spokesperson said: "This aircraft has been recovered and an investigation is underway."
