SerpApi.Org
A “groundbreaking” British fighter drone has been welcomed by Wes Streeting, the new Defence Secretary, amid a battle with American rivals to build aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
The “loyal wingman” autonomous aircraft, developed by BAE Systems, would fly alongside manned jets such as Typhoons and F-35Bs.
Known as Brontanax – or “thunder king” in ancient Greek – is the only British-designed candidate for the RAF’s Storm Fighter competition so far and will draw on more than 70 domestic suppliers.
A source close to BAE said: “This is the British effort. It’s the best of everything this country has to offer.”
At an unveiling event on Wednesday, Mr Streeting hailed the drone as “a testament to the extraordinary talent and innovation across our sovereign defence industry”.
He said: “Built by British engineers, backed by British businesses large and small, this aircraft demonstrates that the UK has the skills, the technology and the determination to lead the world in combat air power.”
He added: “This is a groundbreaking moment for UK defence, not just for air power, but for reindustrialisation.”
A demonstrator version of the drone is expected to take flight next year in tests with Typhoon jets.
However, Brontanax will be up against a pack of formidable US competitors that were out in force at the Farnborough International Airshow this week.
Executives from Anduril and General Atomics flaunted their autonomous Fury and Gambit drones respectively at the global air trade show. They are both already being produced for the US air force, while rival Boeing displayed the Ghost Bat drone it has built for the Royal Australian air force.
The US companies are also promoting their drones for operations at sea. The Royal Navy is looking to deploy the technology aboard its Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
Militaries around the world are developing loyal wingman drones to aid with reconnaissance, strikes and – if necessary – to sacrifice themselves to protect aircraft flown by human pilots.
They would fly in front of their human controllers and carry payloads featuring a variety of sensors or weapons.
BAE says Brontanax will offer up to 80pc of the capabilities of a Typhoon jet – including a weapons system that can include Meteor air-to-air missiles or ground-strike weapons – but at 25pc of the cost.
Typhoon jets currently cost between €140m (£119m) and €190m each, implying the drones would be priced somewhere in the region of £30m to £40m apiece.
They would be cheap enough to be placed at risk but not viewed as fully disposable.
As many as four at a time would be paired with one manned fighter and the drones are understood to be fully compatible with the RAF’s older Typhoon jets as well as the newer F-35B.
BAE is already thought to have sunk tens of millions of pounds of funding into developing Brontanax, but selection for Storm Fighter contract would almost certainly lead to fresh investment and jobs.
A demonstrator of the drone is being built at the company’s Warton site, near Preston, Lancashire.
Mr Streeting’s comments will be seen as significant after Labour ministers vowed to “back British” companies when procuring military equipment.
That agenda also has the backing of John Healey, the former defence secretary who was appointed Chancellor by Andy Burnham this week.
Speaking to Treasury staff on Tuesday, Mr Healey said he wanted to see “British benefits, British apprenticeships, British jobs.”
He added: “For every procurement pound spent, buying British. Not if possible, but by design. In transport, in energy, in defence, in AI and in tech.”
The RAF previously chose a British company, Tekever, along with the UK business of Italian defence giant Leonardo, to build its Storm Shroud drones, which are designed to blind enemy air defences using electronic warfare.
Ministers have said the programme will make the RAF Europe’s first “sixth-generation air force”.
Separately, BAE is also bidding for a contract to make a loyal wingman drone to accompany the Army’s Apache helicopters. It is up against Anduril in that competition as well.
Lorenzo Mariani, the chief executive of Leonardo, said on Tuesday that his company would also enter the Storm Fighter competition.
