The Air Force Buys Tekever's AR5 Drones to Patrol Portugal's Atlantic Waters, With First Deliveries Due in September

Portugal's best-known drone maker is coming home. The Força Aérea Portuguesa (Portuguese Air Force) has signed a contract with Tekever to acquire the company's AR5 uncrewed aircraft for maritime surveillance, with the first systems due to be delivered in September and the Air Force operating them directly.

It is a notable order for a firm that has spent the past two years making headlines abroad — supplying reconnaissance drones to Ukraine, expanding across Europe, and being singled out by name by the Russian embassy in Lisbon. This time the customer is the Portuguese state itself, buying capability to watch its own waters.

What the AR5 does

The AR5 is a fixed-wing, medium-altitude, long-endurance system — the category defence planners label MALE. It can stay airborne for up to 20 hours, carry a payload of around 50 kilograms, and communicate over satellite links for operations far beyond the line of sight of its operators. It is designed to take off from short or unprepared airstrips, which matters for a country that has to keep eyes on ocean stretching well past its coastline.

The contract is not just the aircraft. It bundles in a ground control station, the company's ATLAS mission system, and training for the military personnel who will fly and maintain the fleet. According to Lieutenant-Colonel Luís Henriques, operational coordinator of the Air Force's AR5 working group, the platform "meets current surveillance, security and defence requirements" and will strengthen Portugal's capacity to monitor its maritime space.

Watching one of the world's largest maritime zones

The mission that dominates the order is oversight of the Zona Económica Exclusiva (ZEE — Exclusive Economic Zone), the waters where Portugal holds rights over fishing and resources. It is one of the largest such zones in the European Union, and patrolling it with crewed aircraft and ships alone is expensive and slow. A long-endurance drone that can loiter for the better part of a day changes that arithmetic, flagging illegal fishing, tracking vessels of interest and supporting search-and-rescue.

The systems are also slated for public-interest roles beyond defence: coastal security, environmental protection, and support for the DECIR (Dispositivo Especial de Combate a Incêndios Rurais — the Special Rural Firefighting Force) during the wildfire season, when aerial observation helps commanders spot ignitions early and direct resources.

The timeline is tight. Initial operational capability is expected in September, when the first equipment is delivered, followed by a second training phase in October. The contract value and the exact number of aircraft were not disclosed.

For Tekever, the deal closes a symbolic loop. A company that built its reputation exporting Portuguese engineering — and, more recently, winning a €467 million contract and drawing the attention of the Kremlin — is now equipping the armed forces of the country where it was founded. For the Air Force, it is a bet that the cheapest way to keep watch over a very large ocean is to send up an aircraft that does not need a pilot on board.