The British Army is sponsoring the country’ s first undergraduate degree in Drone Technologies run by New Model Institute for Technology and

Engineering( NMITE) in Hereford. It has provided

£ 240,000 to fund the three-year course which is planned to start in September 2026. The Masters in Engineering( MEng) degree course will train military and civilians in specialist drone technologies. The degree course will include 15 civilians and up to five soldiers a year who will become drone technology experts. he New Model Institute for

Technology and Engineering( NMITE) in Hereford, UK, has unveiled its new Autonomous Robotics degree.

NMITE hosted an event in conjunction with the British Army to showcase its groundbreaking MEng( Hons) Integrated Engineering( Autonomous Robotics), which will welcome its first cohort of students in September 2026.

The event marked a significant milestone for NMITE and its partners, underlining a shared commitment to equipping the next generation of engineers with advanced technical expertise aligned to both national security priorities and fast-growing civilian industries.

With rapid developments in artificial intelligence, unmanned systems and data-driven technologies, the new programme has been designed to respond directly to current and emerging skills demands.

Attended by Al Carns MP, Minister for the Armed Forces, the event was hosted by NMITE’ s James Newby, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jesse Norman, Chair and Professor Alexandru Stancu, Academic Lead for the degree.

Current NMITE students were also present, showcasing examples of real-world autonomous systems, drone technologies and robotics platforms developed as part of their projectbased learning. These demonstrations highlighted the institute’ s distinctive hands-on approach and gave guests the opportunity to see how theory is translated into practical engineering solutions.

Representing the Army was Brigadier Mike Cornwell, Head of Future Force Development at Army Command. Members of the Army Experimentation and Trials Group were also in attendance.

These soldiers, who work at the forefront of testing and evaluating emerging technologies, are among those who could

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