The RN has launched project VANQUISH, seeking proposals from industry for a Fixed-Wing, Short Take Off and Landing, Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP). This is the first step towards meeting the First Sea Lord’s vision for a large technical demonstrator UAS to be flown from an aircraft carrier in a very short timeframe
According to the official Request for Information (RFI), VANQUISH will be a high-subsonic, jet-powered aircraft able to take off and land from a QEC carrier without the need for catapults or arrestor gear. The focus is on delivering a demonstrator ACP with credible endurance and payload, capable of supporting missions such as ISR, strike, and air-to-air refuelling in the future. ACP introduces yet another acronym to the uncrewed aviation space (UAS, UAV, RPAS and UCAV etc.) but there is an emphasis is on the collaboration and the ability to integrate with F-35 operations.
VANQUISH is classified as ‘Tier 2 attritable’. Tier 1 platforms are essentially disposable, intended for a single mission. Tier 2 Attritable implies loss is acceptable, but the platform is designed to be recoverable and reusable. Tier 3 are expensive, high-end platforms where loss should be avoided as much as possible.
Vixen Vanquished?
Project VANQUISH appears to be a scaled-back version of the earlier Project VIXEN concept. VIXEN, first proposed in 2021, envisaged a larger, higher-end uncrewed aircraft intended to carry up to two 500kg modular payloads. This size and capability would have necessitated catapult-assisted take-off and arrested recovery operation. This would require substantial modifications to the QEC carrier’s flight deck, previously envisioned in project ARK ROYAL.
By contrast, VANQUISH has been designed specifically for short take-off and landing (STOL) operations on QEC, avoiding the need to modify the carrier flight deck. This constraint inevitably imposes trade-offs in range and payload compared to the earlier concept, but the RN’s insistence on ‘credible performance’ suggests that VANQUISH must still be a capable and versatile airframe.
According to the documentation, the RN aims to contract work on VANQUISH between January and April 2026, with a demonstration taking place at sea by the end of 2026 or at least within 18 months of that date. The technical demonstration phase is expected to run for 20 months, concluding no later than December 2027.
The estimated contract value is £10-12 million, including VAT. Although modest by defence aviation standards, this figure reflects the cost of a demonstrator rather than a production programme. The outcomes of the demonstration are expected to inform requirements for a follow-on capability likely to be fielded in the early 2030s.
Towards the hybrid air wing
Project VANQUISH is part of the RN’s broader Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) programme, which aims to incrementally transition the Fleet Air Arm toward a hybrid force made up of both crewed and uncrewed platforms. As part of that vision, QEC carriers are expected to embark an increasingly diverse air wing, mixing fast jets and helicopters with fixed-wing and rotary-wing uncrewed systems.
The current F-35B force offers formidable sensor fusion and strike capability but comes with high cost, limited endurance, and relatively small embarked numbers. Adding uncrewed aircraft, particularly attritable ones that can be risked in high-threat environments, offers a way to extend surveillance coverage, increase sortie rates, and deliver effects at lower cost and risk.
Revolution or evolution ?
Many key specifications for VANQUISH remain undefined. The MOD has left room for industry to propose the “best possible solution,” without prescribing specific airframe layouts, propulsion configurations, or payload types. However, the requirement for high subsonic speed, jet propulsion, STOL performance, and a credible payload narrows the range of viable design approaches.
It is not yet clear whether the aircraft will be based on an existing platform or be a clean-sheet design but the delivery timescale is incredibly tight by normal aircraft development standards. Industry submissions will need to balance ambition with deliverability: the RN clearly wants a working demonstrator as fast as possible, not a just prototype or paper concept.
Also notable is the emphasis on building on “previous trials and demonstrations of ACPs from QEC.” This likely refers to previous trials of the Mojave variant of the General Atomics MQ1C Gray Eagle and the HCMC logistics UAS. While useful as early groundwork, VANQUISH represents a much greater leap in size, speed, and complexity.
Finally, integration with existing aviation procedures and crewed aircraft on QEC will be essential. Any embarked uncrewed platform must be able to operate safely in and around the manned flight deck environment, a challenge that has proved complex in other navies trialling similar systems. Most critically, there are potential risks associated with recovering unarrested aircraft in all but the most benign conditions, when the flight deck may also be occupied by valuable assets such as F-35 and Merlin.
Industrial implications
Although still at the RFI stage, VANQUISH represents an opportunity for UK industry, particularly smaller aerospace firms and UAS specialists, to contribute to a future core capability of the RN’s aviation force. The £10–12 million value of the demonstrator may attract a variety of bidders, including consortia combining airframe developers with autonomy, data-link, or launch/recovery specialists. The MOD has expressed interest in “cross-cutting technologies” relevant to other ACPs and the GCAP efforts, creating potential for joint innovation with the RAF and overseas partners
There will be hordes of naysayers lining up to say this can’t be done, the budget is too small, the timescale is too tight, or the balance between STOL and payload is impossible etc. It should be remembered that so far, this is only a request for information from industry to build a single technology demonstrator. Suitably qualified experts may indeed come back and say it is too ambitious and the scope needs to be adjusted. With project VIXEN and ARK ROYAL some way in the future or even unaffordable, the First Sea Lord is right to drive hard and see what may can be achieved anyway, taking inspiration from the speed and innovation demonstrated by Ukraine.
If VANQUISH can eventually evolve into a production programme in the 2030s, it could form part of a wider UK sovereign capability for uncrewed carrier aviation, something that would reduce dependence on US solutions and add much-needed mass and additional versatility to the carrier air group.