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<\/p>\nDefence giant BAE Systems has unveiled its new \u2018thunder king\u2019 unmanned fighter drone to fly alongside RAF jets with an initial version to take to the sky next year.<\/p>\n
The aircraft, about the size of a Hawk training jet, will act as a so-called \u2018loyal wingman\u2019 or collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) to Typhoon pilots.<\/p>\n
This new way of fighting will see manned jets accompanied by perhaps four drones which will be able to fire lethal missiles at airborne and ground targets.<\/p>\n
BAE has developed Brontanax \u2013 whose name derives for the ancient Greek words for \u2018thunder\u2019 and \u2018king\u2019 alongside the Royal Air Force \u2013 in a project dating back to 2022.<\/p>\n
It has already created a fully-assembled aircraft at its Warton plant in Lancashire. BAE said the aircraft could enter service by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n
The Brontanax was unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow by new defence secretary Wes Streeting, who said it was a \u2018groundbreaking moment\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
BAE Systems unveiled the Brontanax at the Farnborough Airshow by the new defence secretary<\/p>\n
It comes after the UK committed \u00a3300m to the so-called \u2018Storm Fighter\u2019 programme to develop home grown CCAs.<\/p>\n
BAE has already invested \u00a3400m itself in developing Brontanax, which it will aim to export to allies as well as Britain \u2013 and which will vie with rival designs from the likes of Airbus, Anduril and Boeing in an increasingly competitive market.<\/p>\n
Streeting said it the government was adopting Brontanax as its prototype for the Stormfighter programme, adding: \u2018We\u2019re going to get it in the air in 2027.\u2019<\/p>\n
Air Marshal Sir Harv Smyth [corr] \u2013 head of the RAF \u2013 said: \u2018Our mission is simple: to gain and maintain control of the air. Today, we do this in a vastly more complex and contested world. When we control the air, we preserve our freedom.\u2019<\/p>\n
Sir Gerry Mayhew, senior military advisor at BAE, said the idea was to address \u2018the operational threat that is relevant now\u2019.<\/p>\n
It will enable a so-called \u2018sixth generation\u2019 model of fighting to take shape with the current Typhoon jet sooner \u2013 before the arrival of the Tempest fighters that are currently in development but not expected to enter service until 2035.<\/p>\n
\u2018This is not a prototype \u2013 this is an operational platform that will start to evolve from its first flight in the coming 12 months,\u2019 Mayhew said.<\/p>\n
He also said Nato\u2019s \u2018steadfast defender\u2019 exercise next year was \u2018an opportunity for us to prove that Typhoon and CCA working collaboratively together is a real operational capability\u2019.<\/p>\n
BAE said ground trials would begin in the first half of next year, with the aircraft moved to an RAF site for trials in the second half.<\/p>\n
\u2018This is where UK plc will demonstrate it can fly an autonomous uncrewed platform of this scale and size in UK airspace,\u2019 said BAE\u2019s David Holmes.<\/p>\n
Asked about the ability of unmanned aircraft to deliver lethal weapons, Holmes said: \u2018Any lethal force will have to meet the regulations set out by the government.\u2019<\/p>\n
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