With everyone and their mother getting into the “loyal wingman” game, it was only a matter of time before the UK’s biggest defense company jumped in, too.
At the Farnborough International Airshow this week, BAE Systems unveiled Brontanax, its bid for the UK’s Storm Fighter collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) program. The mega-prime already has a demonstrator aircraft fully assembled and is targeting a flight test next year, with Brontanax, if all goes well, expected to enter service by 2030.
Wingman: As any regular Tectonic reader will know, the market for autonomous fighter jets is hotter than hot, and everyone wants in.
- In the US, Anduril and General Atomics have been awarded production contracts by the Air Force for their respective CCAs—the FQ-42 (GA’s model) and FQ-44 (Anduril’s model, AKA Fury)—but Lockheed Martin’s Vectis, Boeing’s Ghost Bat, and Northrop Grumman’s Talon are also in the mix.
- In Europe, Airbus is developing one of its own, and Helsing has made a lot of noise with its CA-1 Europa CCA, including a recently announced electronic warfare variant. The Netherlands also inked a deal to participate in the US Air Force’s CCA program (whoever wins it) last year.
Thunder King: BAE’s Brontanax—which, despite what it sounds like, translates to “Thunder King” in ancient Greek and is not the name of a dinosaur—is a bit bigger than what Anduril and GA are cooking up stateside.
- According to BAE, it’s similar in size to its Hawk aircraft, which is roughly 40 feet long and has a 32-foot wingspan.
- It’s built to be “operated by a Typhoon [fighter jet] pilot or mission commander from range, allowing crewed and uncrewed aircraft to operate as a team,” the company said.
- It was self-funded and designed by BAE’s FalconWorks team (their Skunk Works equivalent), but has been developed alongside the Royal Air Force since 2022.
CCA cash: The timing is good too. In the UK Ministry of Defence’s delay-plagued four-year, £298B Defence Investment Plan, finally unveiled earlier this month, the government is setting aside £300M ($405M) to launch its CCA program, and BAE’s betting that they’ll want to keep that spending inside the country.
- The UK’s CCA program—called Storm Fighter—wants a drone wingman that serves as both a “guardian angel” and “attack dog” for manned fighter jets, according to the UK’s minister of state for defense readiness and industry, Luke Pollard.
- BAE says Brontanax “[reflects] the aircraft’s increasing importance for the armed forces as part of a full force mix,” and that “Storm Fighter will provide the Royal Air Force with Europe’s first sixth generation capability.”
Judging by the RAF’s head honchos’ statements, BAE is pretty well positioned to be tapped for the Storm Fighter program.
“The launch of Brontanax, the UK’s first autonomous uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft, shows how sovereign defence industry is delivering at pace to support us in being Agile, integrated and ready to fly, fight and win,” RAF Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth said.
“The RAF is determined to become Europe’s first 6th Generation Air Force, driving innovation and accelerating the adoption of cutting-edge technology to stay ahead in an increasingly complex and contested battlespace,” he added. “Working alongside BAE Systems, we are taking a major step towards that ambition, with a prototype expected to fly next year.”
The MoD’s new boss, Wes Streeting, is pretty fired up, too.
“The unveiling of Brontanax, the UK’s first uncrewed autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft, is a testament to the extraordinary talent and innovation across our sovereign defence industry,” he said. “We’re investing £300 million in our Storm Fighter programme to develop an autonomous combat aircraft here in the UK.”
Sovereignty is so back.