Engineering news
A £185 million unmanned combat air vehicle designed and built by the UK aerospace industry has flown in full 'stealthy' configuration for the first time, at an undisclosed overseas site.
In order to make it virtually invisible to radar, all antennas on the Taranis aircraft had to be changed to signature control variants, while the air data boom on the nose, which is usually packed full of sensors, was removed. Following these modifications, a specially-designed system was installed which allowed the aircraft to generate a full set of flight data.
Chris Garside, engineering director, future combat air systems, at BAE Systems, the company leading the demonstrator project, said: "The flight met all programme test objectives. It provided us with a full set of flight data, using no probes or booms."
Taranis has been designed and built by BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce, along with a consortium of UK-based aerospace suppliers including Cobham, Claverham and Qinetiq. The project is intended to inform future Ministry of Defence decisions into unmanned combat air systems.
The aircraft is fitted with a Rolls-Royce Adour 951 engine, which has to be fully embedded into the airframe, for reduced radar cross-section and to lower the chances of infrared detection.
Conrad Banks, chief engineer, research and technology, at Rolls-Royce Defence, said: "Propulsion integration has been a challenge. The engine needs to be embedded and hidden from view. Indeed, you could walk around this aircraft and not see any indication of the engine inside."
Banks said this had required some sophisticated engineering. "It has brought challenges with regards to airflow and aerodynamics. There have also been thermal integration issues - the engine needs to be fully insulated.
"Reliability is also paramount. The engine is embedded, so it is hard to get at its components. So it has to be a hugely reliable propulsion system.
"All these factors have been dealt with very successfully."
BAE said it was interpreting flight data results ahead of further tests, which are dependant on the provision of additional funding from the Ministry of Defence.
Ultimately, the plan is to combine knowledge on unmanned combat air vehicles with French military counterparts, to inform the design of future unmanned combat platforms. This work could see the UK and France jointly develop an unmanned combat air vehicle in the future.
The Taranis programme is still subject to security restrictions. Neither BAE Systems or Rolls-Royce would confirm where the test flights took place, or when the aircraft might fly in UK airspace.