The British company MGI Engineering has demonstrated its missile-drone, or miniature cruise missile, SkyShark. This solution is presented as a completely sovereign British-made long-range strike weapon, built using domestic components.
And by British-made, this also refers to the development of the miniature jet engine A300, which was created in cooperation with Argive Ltd. There is also an alternative option — an electric ducted fan HS125 developed by another British company, Greenjets. In both configurations, SkyShark is equipped with two engines.
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During the official presentation of SkyShark, it was stated that it can strike targets at a range of up to 250 km, has a speed of over 450 km/h, and carries a 20 kg warhead. For navigation, it uses a terrain contour matching system (TERCOM), which eliminates dependence on satellite navigation.
The launch can be carried out from a runway, a catapult, or a ramp. The design is modular and allows for easy replacement of components, such as the navigation system or warhead, and enables upgrades for new tasks and conditions.
According to ESD, MGI Engineering emphasizes that SkyShark was developed with mass production in mind. Moreover, MGI Engineering is ready to license production of this missile-drone.
Defense Express notes that, overall, SkyShark appears to be a fairly mature product from a mass-production perspective, without relying on complex approaches. However, the need for two compact jet engines raises questions about their thrust. Furthermore, such engines are not very cheap — and SkyShark uses two of them.
As for ducted fans, Greenjets offers the Hemlock 125 engine, which provides 15 kgf of thrust and enables cruising speeds of over 540 km/h. These parameters are achieved thanks to a maximum of 40,000 RPM. This, too, raises questions about its cost.
At the same time, a 20 kg warhead is quite small and likely cannot be compensated even by very high precision. In the end, the number of targets that can be effectively hit with such a warhead is limited. Nevertheless, SkyShark — with its reliance on exclusively British components and readiness for mass production — deserves attention.
It’s worth recalling that MBDA, also aiming at mass production, offers the One-Way Effector, which uses a single jet engine and carries a 40–50 kg warhead.
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