MOD invests £30m in unmanned fighter jet
RAF’S ‘game changing’ technology will fly as ‘loyal wingmen’ with combat aircraft such as the F-35
An unmanned fighter aircraft nicknamed the “loyal wingman” is to be produced following a £30 million injection from the MOD. The contract to design and manufacture the RAF’S prototype uncrewed fighter aircraft will support more than 100 jobs at Spirit Aerosystems in Belfast in a three-year deal. The drones will be able to detect and avoid enemy air defences and be sufficiently robust to continue on mission even if targeted by cyber attacks.
‘This approach will transform the combat battlespace in a way not seen since the advent of the jet age’
‘A decision to move UK industry away from manned combat aircraft would not be reversible in the future’
AN UNMANNED fighter aircraft dubbed the “loyal wingman” is to be produced following a £30million injection from the Ministry of Defence.
The prototype will help develop a fleet of RAF drones that will be controlled by pilots in other aircraft or by ground stations that could be thousands of miles away. Known as the Lightweight
Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (Lanca), the first flight is expected by the end of 2023. The drones will be a key part of the RAF’S future fighter programme called Tempest.
The contract to design and manufacture the RAF’S prototype will support more than 100 jobs at Spirit Aerosystems in Belfast in a three-year deal.
Utilising ground-breaking engineering techniques, the team will further develop the Lanca concept, with a fullscale vehicle flight-test programme expected by the end of 2023.
The “loyal wingman” concept envisages highly sophisticated drones that will fly in formation with a manned aircraft such as a Typhoon or F-35.
The crewed aircraft will be able to assign tasks such as electronic warfare, surveillance or bombing missions to the Lanca drones, thereby increasing the effect of air power at a lower cost and risk to RAF aircrew.
The drones will be able to detect and avoid enemy air defences and be sufficiently robust to continue on mission even if targeted by cyber attacks.
This revolutionary capability, which military chiefs hope will be deployed by the end of the decade, is part of the wider Tempest programme to design the next generation of combat aircraft.
Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, the Chief of the Air Staff, said: “We’re taking a revolutionary approach, looking at a game changing mix of swarming drones and uncrewed fighter aircraft ... alongside piloted fighters like Tempest, that will transform the combat battle-space in a way not seen since the advent of the jet age.”
Richard Berthon, the Mod’s director of Future Combat Air, said Lanca was a vital element of the RAF’S future combat capabilities – the Tempest programme – and would rapidly bring to life design, build and test skills for next-generation aircraft and air combat systems.
“Autonomous ‘loyal wingman’ aircraft create the opportunity to expand, diversify and rapidly upgrade Combat Air Forces in a cost-effective way, now and in the future,” he said.
The Tempest programme is a UK partnership made up of BAE Systems, Rolls-royce, Leonardo and MBDA.
Employing around 2,500 people the programme aims to have fighter aircraft in service by the 2040s.
The MOD plans to start manufacturing the first aircraft by 2025. By supporting the UK aerospace industry, the MOD hopes to retain sovereignty over military equipment.
Trevor Taylor, of the Royal United Services Institute, said the programme “represents a national strategic commitment, especially since a decision to move UK industry away from manned combat aircraft would not be reversible in the future”. He added: “Any claim of a UK government to be an independent major military actor on the world stage would be undermined by even more enhanced reliance on US equipment.