Tauranga-based Syos wins $67 million UK drone contract

Wednesday, 23 April 2025

Syos Aerospace has developed the SA200, a diesel or petrol-powered unmanned aircraft system.

Tauranga-based drone-maker Syos Aerospace has done a £30 million (NZ$67 million) deal to supply unmanned military vehicles for use in Ukraine.

The deal was announced by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as Britain and New Zealand both step up defence spending.

Syos has manufacturing sites in Hampshire in England and also in Tauranga. The company has been contacted for comment.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was meeting with Starmer in Downing Street to discuss the deepening of defence ties between the two countries.

The British government said in a statement: “In addition to their support for training Ukrainian troops, military planners from the New Zealand Defence Force are contributing to the latest thinking and plans for post-conflict support for Ukraine through the Coalition of the Willing.”

It said the contract had created 45 jobs at Syos’ manufacturing facility based in Fareham, Hampshire, and supported a further nine UK-based companies with subcontracts.

More than 20 people were killed in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, the city’s acting mayor and Ukraine's General Prosecutor's Office said.

Earlier this month Syos founder Samuel Vye responded to New Zealand’s plan to increase defence spending, including spending on unmanned vehicles.

He told RNZ that the New Zealand Defence Force should not buy drones that had not been proven in the war in Ukraine.

Syos makes “heavy-lift” unmanned helicopters suitable for aerial operations in remote locations.

Its flagship model is the SA200 unmanned helicopter with a payload capacity of 200kg and flight endurance of 2 hours.

In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish fire following a Russian attack in Dnipro. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

“Reliability and robustness are achieved with aviation grade and mil-spec componentry, multiple redundancies and without a single point of failure,” Syos’ specifications for the SA200 say. “It has been designed to operate in conflicted environments with anti-jamming and data encryption, mitigating the impact of counter-UAS tools.”

Syos, which was founded in 2021, also makes uncrewed boats.

Since geopolitical risks have risen after the election of US President Donald Trump, the UK and New Zealand have increased defence spending to 2.5% and 2% of GDP respectively.

The expansion of defence spending has led Syos to expect its revenue to triple in the coming year.

A month ago, Finance Minister Nicola Willis visited Syos’ research and development centre in Mount Maunganui.

The company is beginning to draw more attention, but as yet is not well-known.

“We fly under the radar, no pun intended,” Vye told Newstalk ZB in April 2016.