Redback integrates British turret and SkyKeeper

Hanwha Aerospace and Lockheed Martin UK have integrated a British-built 40mm turret and counter-uncrewed-aircraft capability onto the Redback infantry fighting vehicle, creating a new configuration aimed at customers considering next-generation tracked combat platforms.

The demonstrator was unveiled at DVD 2026 in Bedfordshire and combines the Redback hull with Lockheed Martin UK’s latest crewed turret. The system is armed with CTA International’s NATO-qualified 40mm cannon and incorporates Lockheed Martin UK’s SkyKeeper command-and-control technology.

It is the first time the British turret has been fitted to Redback and the first integration of SkyKeeper inside a turret architecture. SkyKeeper is connected through Generic Vehicle Architecture, providing a digital route for additional systems and mission functions to be added during the vehicle’s service life.

The configuration differs from the Redback being produced for the Australian Army, which uses a 30mm Mk44S Bushmaster II weapon in its established turret arrangement. Hanwha is using the British demonstrator to show how the underlying tracked platform can be adapted to a different customer’s weapon and electronic requirements.

The 40mm cannon provides the conventional infantry fighting vehicle element while also giving the system access to ammunition types relevant to aerial targets. Counter-UAS performance, however, depends on more than installing a gun capable of firing suitable rounds.

Small drones create short engagement timelines and difficult detection problems. A vehicle needs sensors capable of finding and tracking them, software able to establish whether an object represents a threat, and a command system capable of passing an engagement-quality track to the weapon quickly enough for the gun to respond.

SkyKeeper provides that command-and-control layer within the demonstrator. Lockheed Martin UK has developed the system from earlier British ground-based air-defence command architectures, with the objective of building and distributing a coherent air picture from multiple sensors and effectors.

Integrating that function on an infantry fighting vehicle creates a different operating model from a dedicated air-defence platform. The vehicle still has to perform its normal land-combat role while potentially contributing to protection against small aerial threats around the formation.

That dual role has an obvious attraction for armies attempting to increase counter-UAS coverage without creating a separate specialist vehicle for every manoeuvre unit. It also introduces competing demands on sensors, ammunition, crew attention and command priorities when ground and aerial threats appear simultaneously.

Open digital interfaces become particularly valuable in that environment. Drone technology, sensors and electronic countermeasures are evolving faster than an armoured vehicle fleet can reasonably be replaced, so a platform designed to accept changing sensors or software has a better chance of remaining useful as counter-UAS requirements move.

The same applies to weapon integration. CTA International’s 40mm cased-telescoped system provides a common cannon around which different ammunition can be used, but effective counter-UAS performance still depends on fire-control software, fuzing, sensor accuracy and engagement doctrine being developed as a complete system.

Hanwha and Lockheed Martin UK are positioning the configuration as relatively low risk because it combines an established tracked platform with mature British turret and command technology. That description refers to the maturity of the component systems rather than proving the new combination as an operational counter-UAS vehicle.

Testing will therefore be significant. A static integration at DVD can demonstrate mechanical and digital compatibility, but prospective customers will need evidence showing how the vehicle detects, tracks and engages representative targets while moving, how rapidly it can switch between roles and how the electronic architecture behaves under realistic network conditions.

The companies plan live demonstrations during 2027 in countries considering new infantry fighting vehicles, with Canada and South Korea among the markets identified in the current programme. No customer has ordered the 40mm and SkyKeeper configuration at this stage.

For Lockheed Martin UK, the demonstrator also provides an export route for a turret and command architecture that is not tied permanently to one host vehicle. For Hanwha, it demonstrates that Redback can accept a substantially different turret, weapon and C2 suite from the Australian production baseline.

The next evidence will come from those live trials. If the 2027 demonstrations validate the counter-UAS chain from detection through SkyKeeper to the 40mm weapon, the configuration will move beyond a modularity exercise and provide potential customers with data on whether one tracked platform can credibly cover both infantry fighting and local air-defence tasks.