British stealth drone to undergo first test flight

[indian_foxhound]

The Taranis is expected to provide a prototype of
a new kind of bomber that will replace piloted
planes and the current drones.

An unmanned combat aircraft has been built for
the British military is to undergo its first ever test
flight later this year. It can fly faster than the speed of sound, cannot
be detected by radar and has no pilot. This is the
new robotic plane that will become the next
generation of front line bombers for the British
military. The drone, which is named Taranis after the Celtic
god of thunder, has been designed to fly
intercontinental missions to attack targets and
can automatically dodge incoming missiles. The aircraft, which has cost £125 million to build,
is intended to be the first of a new generation of
aeroplanes that will reduce the need to risk
human lives on long, dangerous missions. It is to be flown for the first time in a series of
tests over the Australian outback in the spring in
an attempt to demonstrate the technology to
military chiefs. Currently the Royal Air Force uses Tornado GR4
bombers as its front line strike aircraft, although
the Typhoon Eurofighter is expected to replace it
in the coming years. Remote controlled drones such as Reaper are also
used by the Ministry of Defence and US military to
attack targets. But the Taranis is expected to provide a
prototype of a new kind of bomber that will
replace piloted planes and the current drones. With a shape more similar to the US B-2 Stealth
bomber, it intended to fly automatically using an
on-board computer system to perform
manoeuvres, avoid threats and identify targets.
Only when it needs to attack a target will it seek
authorisation from a human controller. Nigel Whitehead, group managing director of
programmes at BAE Systems, which has been
developing Taranis, said the new drone could
change the way aircraft are used by the MoD in
the future, which currently uses manned planes
for combat missions. He said: “I think that the Taranis programme will
be used to inform the UK MoD thinking, regarding
the make up for the future force mix. I anticipate
that the UK will chose to have a mix of manned
and unmanned front-line aircraft. “This decision will have a major impact on the
future of the UK military.” The Taranis uses stealth technology, including a
highly secretive coating that helps it slip through
radar undetected. It will be able to carry a series
of weapons on board including missiles and laser
guided bombs. The use of drones, however, has come under
intense criticism from human rights groups, who
claim their use as weapons contravenes
international laws as often innocent targets can
be killed. The Reaper and Predator drones currently used
by the British and US military are operated by
remote control using pilots based at a command
centre. Although they fly relatively slowly, with a
maximum speed of 287 miles per hour, less than
half the speed of sound, their ability to perform
“hunter-killer” missions or support ground
troops in Afghanistan without risking human
pilots has seen them increasingly used. Unmanned aircraft are now being seen as a way
of producing planes that can fly further, faster
and higher than is currently possible with human
pilots, who can grow tired or blackout in
manoeuvres that produce high g-forces. There are concerns, however, that as drones are
made more autonomous, they will pose more of
a risk if they go out of control and leaving
computers to make life or death decisions is
highly controversial. Taranis, however, will still rely on instructions
from a central command centre before attacking
targets. The tests on Taranis, which is powered by a
Rolls-Royce Adour 951 engine used on Hawk
training jets, will see it flying a simulated mission
where it must automatically avoid unexpected
threats such as ground to air missiles and seek
out potential targets. Once identified, the operators will send
instructions to Taranis to attack the targets
before performing a flying past to confirm the
damage and then landing safely. Mr Whitehead added: “There is one demonstrator
aircraft. The mission plan will be loaded onto the
vehicle. The aircraft will then fly the mission.
Taranis will fly to the search area and sweep the
area to identify targets. “The air vehicle will be presented with
unexpected “pop up” threats and its evasive
response will be monitored. “Target information will be relayed to mission
command and the aircraft will hold off until given
the next instruction to prosecute, send more data
or ignore the identified target. “In the event of a command to attack, this will be
carried out followed by a battle damage
inspection and then further interaction with
command to confirm the instruction to attack
again, prosecute other targets or to come home,
avoiding further pop-up threats.” A spokesman for the MoD added: “Taranis is the
first of its kind in the UK. Unmanned Air Vehicles
play an important role on operations, helping to
reduce the risks faced by military personnel on
the front line. “Forthcoming Taranis flight trials will provide
MoD and industry with further information about
the potential capabilities of Unmanned Combat
Air Systems.”

Tornado GR4

Thrust: 32,000lbs Max

speed: Mach 1.3

Length: 56ft

Wingspan: 28ft Max

Altitude: 50,000ft


Taranis


Thrust: 6,500lbs Max

speed: Classified but supersonic

Length: 37ft

Wingspan: 32ft Max


Altitude: Classified

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9797738/British-stealth-drone-to-undergo-first-test-flight.html

 

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