£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.

“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."