First seen at IDEX 2025, the MBDA Diamond Shaped loitering munition has been developed in partnership with Fly-R, the company specialised in rhomboidal wing UAVs based on the La Réunion island. SOFINS was the opportunity to talk to the company representatives and get some more details about the airframe used in the MBDA product
Two years ago, at SOFINS 2023, Fly-R unveiled its products and received the first prize for innovation, which was handed over by Mrs. Florence Parly, a former French Minister of Defence, to Mr. Remi Albert, the company CEO. “This prize was key in opening up a series of opportunities for our company,” he told EDR On-Line, the company stand proudly showcasing the model of the R2-120 Raijin, the one used for developing the new loitering munition in partnership with MBDA. The R2-120 Raijin fuselage has a square section and is fitted with a patented rhomboidal foldable wing, to allow it to be tube-launched, while all the other Flyr-R products, also fitted with rhomboidal wings, have them fix, which makes things simpler in the design phase.
Most of the data were already provided in the article from SOFINS 2023. However, the company CEO detailed a bit further one of the key elements of the R1-120 Raijin, the patented wings deployment mechanism. The airframe is fitted with two pairs of half-wings, one hinged on the lower front part of the fuselage and one on the upper rear part of it. The lower one folds backwards while the upper one folds forwards. The wing deployment follows a specific sequence; the lower set of wings, which at the extremity have the vertical stabilator, deploys earlier, the upper wings extremity engaging the stabilators making a closed structure, the upper wing extremity engaging in a slot in the vertical stabilator. “This is what allows our R2-120 Raijin to have no flutter at high speed,” the CEO told EDR On-Line, which means maximum flight stability especially at high speed. The most critical phase is the transition, and Fly-R did several tests at the French ONERA wind tunnel to overcome all the issues.
According to Fly-R no other systems of that category have the same manoeuvrability at high-speed and the same spread between minimum and maximum speed. “The R2-120 Raijin is nearly qualified,” Remi Albert told EDR On-Line.
A panel showing the other products coming from the Réunion Island, all featuring a rhomboidal wing, the number indicating the airframe wingspan, could be seen on the Fly-R stand. A good opportunity to understand at which stage of development those systems are.
Two airframes bigger that the R2-120 Raijin are also designed for attack purposes, the R2-150 and the R2-240. The former is powered by an electric motor, has a take-off mass of 15 kg, a 1.5 metres wingspan and is fully qualified; the main difference with the R2-120 Raijin is that the R2-150 has a fixed wing which makes the design and testing much simpler. The R2-240 features a hybrid powerplant, has a 60 kg take-off mass, a 2.4 metres wingspan, and is currently at prototype level. The 90 kg R2-HSTD, the acronym standing for High-Speed Target Drone, has a 2.4 metres wingspan, is powered by a turbojet, and can reach Mach 0.65 flying for 1 hour up to 60 km range. At the top of the list, we find the R2-600, a hybrid rhomboidal medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned system with a 6.1 metres wingspan; powered by two electric motors with pushing propellers located on the side at the back of the fuselage, the upper airbox providing the intake for the engine used to reload batteries. Its take-off speed will be 97 knots, and it will need a 500 metres long runway for take-off and landing; cruise speed will be 145 knots for a 25-hour endurance, while maximum speed will be 270 knots. Its mass at take-off will be 1,600 kg, 600 kg being the payload. Currently the R2-600 is still only on computer screens, “but its design is in a very advanced phase,” Mr. Remi Albert concludes.
Photos by P. Valpolini