IDEX 2025: Flyer Defense relaunches smaller special forces vehicle

The Flyer 60-6 on the International Golden Group stand at IDEX 2025. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)

The US company Flyer Defense unveiled its Flyer 60-6 ultralight tactical vehicle at the International Defence Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) 2025 held in Abu Dhabi from 17 to 21 February.

The vehicle is an improved version of the company's Flyer 60. The most obvious difference is that it can seat up to six people, which is reflected in its name. Flyer Defense says the 60-6 has enhanced engineering and modularity as the vehicle can be rapidly converted between troop carrier, light strike, casualty evacuation, and utility roles.

It retains the 60 inch (152 cm)-wide chassis, enabling it to fit inside a V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, but the new version is listed as having a 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) curb weight, which is 500 lb heavier than the original. Its gross vehicle weight is listed as 8,500 lb, 100 lb less than the original, so its payload has been reduced from 4,100 lb to 3,500 lb.

Flyer Defense also displayed the Beast mobile fire-support variant of its larger Flyer 72 HD vehicle at IDEX 2025. This is fitted with the 120 mm Alakran mortar system made by the Spanish company NTGS, which uses a pneumatic system to deploy its tube from the back of the vehicle to give it a very short ‘shoot-and-scoot' time. The Beast can carry up to 50 120 mm mortar rounds or 80 rounds when fitted with the 81 mm variant of the Alakran.