A British drone maker that designs and assembles long-range surveillance multi-rotor drones, best known for the Sky Mantis, used by military and emergency-response customers.
Evolve Dynamics designs and builds small drones for surveillance. Its multi-rotor aircraft are built to fly in strong wind and heavy rain, and a company profile lists a rapid-deployment drone with about an hour of flight time, a 30x zoom camera with a thermal camera, secure live streaming of video and position over the internet or satellite, and a tethered system that can keep the aircraft powered for up to 24 hours. Its flagship is the Sky Mantis, and a successor, Sky Mantis 2, launched internationally in 2024. Its site also lists the Foxe and Wolfe platforms and a range of payloads. The customers it names are emergency-response, defence and special-operations teams.
Mike Dewhirst founded the company in 2016 and is described as chief executive and chief technology officer in 2024 coverage, though a May 2025 local news article quotes Tom Redman as chief executive, so leadership appears to have changed. The company says Mr Dewhirst started it to support Ukraine after Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea, and that it has had a presence in Ukraine since 2017. The stated mission is to provide small uncrewed aircraft systems to the Ukrainian military and supply UAV technology for military operations. Its radio link for Sky Mantis 2 was tested in the field in Ukraine against jamming.
The UK side is in the south of England, but sources disagree on the exact base. An industry directory puts the design and assembly in Surrey, local news described it as a local manufacturer near Farnham in Surrey, and a 2024 profile says it is based in London. In August 2024 it set up a Ukrainian company to formalise its operations there. It showed a 250-gram hand-launched drone, called Fox, at a veterans' event in 2025.
On people, a 2024 report gave about 50 staff in the UK and 20 in Ukraine, with the Ukrainian team covering software, aeromechanical engineering, training, piloting and customer support, and working closely with front-line units. At the 2025 event, Mr Redman said the firm was proud of its heritage and of the people who have dedicated their lives to protecting the nation. These are the company's own words and we did not read a culture page. It works in defence, so students should think about whether that field suits them.
Roles include aircraft and mechanical designers, electronics and radio engineers, flight-control software developers, technicians who assemble drones, trainers and pilots who teach customers, and sales and operations staff. Helpful subjects at school include maths, physics, design and technology and computing. The company's website is the place to check which roles are current.
Website: www.evolvedynamics.com
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