BAE Systems already has a prototype ready

For decades, every major leap in British military aviation has had a pilot at its centre. It happened with him Harrierwith the Tornado and with him Typhoonand everything indicates that it will continue to be like this in the future Tempest. But something is changing around these planes: one of the next big pieces that the United Kingdom wants to incorporate It doesn’t have to take anyone inside.. The intention is for its fighters to fly accompanied by aircraft capable of assuming part of the risk, expanding their range and adding combat power without adding another pilot to the formation.

This change already has a name: Brontanax. Those who came to see it at the Farnborough Air Show They did not have in front of them the prototype intended for testingbut an exhibition model that showed what the new BAE Systems device will be like. The test unit remained in Warton, where the company says it is now fully assembled and in preparation for ground testing. We haven’t seen it take off yet, but we’re not looking at a project that exists solely on a screen either: there’s already a physical prototype awaiting its next test.

To understand what the British manufacturer is proposing, it is advisable to remove the image of the small drone. Brontanax is similar in size to hawkthe British advanced trainer, and belongs to the Collaborative Combat Aircraft family: unmanned aircraft designed to fly and combat as part of broader training. It is not called to replace the Typhoon or the future Tempest, but rather to add another platform to the team. BAE assures that it can be operated remotely by a Typhoon pilot or a mission commander, although it has not yet explained how far its autonomy will go during an operation.

The autonomous companion that the United Kingdom wants for its fighters

The company attributes two major functions to it: electronic warfare and precision attacks against ground and air targets. The important thing is not only what it can do, but what it can add to the overall mission. Instead of concentrating all tasks on a few manned fighters, the Royal Air Force could distribute functions among a greater number of aircraft. This is what the industry calls “combat mass”: expanding the number of available platforms and sending some of them to the highest risk areas without necessarily exposing another pilot.

The project also arrives at a very specific time. The British Government has just committed 300 million poundsabout 351 million euros at the exchange rate of July 24, 2026, to the Storm Fighter program, the initiative with which it wants develop autonomous capacity own and integrate it into the rest of its combat aviation. The timetable is ambitious: London wants the demonstrator to fly by 2027 and for the Storm Fighter to reach operational capability before the end of the decade. For now, however, we are talking about official development goals, not a guaranteed entry into service.

It is not the first time that the Royal Air Force has tried to incorporate an unmanned companion into its formations. Project Mosquito pursued a similar idea, but the British Ministry of Defense canceled it in 2022 before the demonstrator could fly. The new attempt comes with an important difference: BAE Systems claims to have financed the development carried out so far through its own investment in research and development. The question is no longer whether the company can take the design to an assembled prototype, but rather whether this device will be able to demonstrate everything promised in flight.

The United Kingdom thus arrives at a race in which some competitors have already left the presentation phase behind. Australia accumulates more than a hundred flights with the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Batwhile the United States has awarded industrial development and production contracts for the General Atomics FQ-42 and the Anduril FQ-44. The British bet does not yet have a contracted fleet nor demonstrated capabilities in the air, but a prototype with which to try to reduce that distance. The real leap will not come with the Farnborough model, but when the test unit leaves Warton and manages to fly.

Images | BAE Systems

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