Drones built by Terra Industries will now come with machine guns and rocket launchers as the defence startup begins to build combat-ready systems for the Nigerian military.
The startup, which started out by building UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) for surveillance systems, is now going a step further by adding weapon systems to its drones. This means that threats discovered by these systems can now be neutralised.
Techpoint Africa has learned that this is part of a classified project with the Nigerian military. According to sources, the system will be controlled remotely by military personnel and not by the company’s proprietary AI system, Artemis OS.
Earlier this year, when Terra announced its $11.75 million seed funding, it said it was re-entering Africa’s defence market after briefly exiting it and identifying itself solely as a drone manufacturer.
Back then, Terra Industries CEO Nathan Nwachuku told Techpoint Africa that there were serious geopolitical issues to navigate, which made the company decide to stop building systems for the Nigerian military.
However, since its fundraising, the company now says, “We need to protect Africa’s critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks. We have been a bit wary of calling ourselves a defence company, but now we’re doing it fully.”
Nwachuku also noted recently that beyond capital, the investors were selected for their experience building similar hard-tech and defence-focused companies.
“They’ve been instrumental in helping us think through complex geopolitics, how to build a robust and flexible supply chain that is sanction-proof, and how to attract the best talent.”
While the details of Terra’s project with the Nigerian government remain classified, it signals the company’s growing focus on defence technology and the kinds of systems it intends to build going forward.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
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It is still unclear whether the weaponised drones will be available to other clients or reserved exclusively for the Nigerian military. Terra Industries declined to comment on the project.
