The UK government will invest 30 million ($41 million) in designing and producing its first unmanned combat aircraft, which will be armed with surveillance and electronic warfare technology to assist manned planes, the ministry of Defense announced on Monday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2021) The UK government will invest 30 million ($41 million) in designing and producing its first unmanned combat aircraft, which will be armed with surveillance and electronic warfare technology to assist manned planes, the ministry of Defense announced on Monday.
"Known as a 'loyal wingman', these aircraft will be the UK's first uncrewed platforms able to target and shoot down enemy aircraft and survive against the surface to air missiles," the statement said.
The project, named Team Mosquito, will be carried out in Belfast by Spirit AeroSystems, the US company that in October last year bought the Northern Ireland aerospace firm Bombardier, and according to the UK Ministry of Defense will support more than 100 jobs.
Defense minister Jeremy Quin said the program will transform traditional approaches to combat air to enable the rapid development of technology.
"By utilising the latest software development techniques and civilian aerospace engineering and manufacturing expertise, the project will deliver dramatic reductions in costs and development timelines, so their innovations can reach the front-line quicker than ever before," Quin said, as quoted in the statement.
The team will further develop the RAF's Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept, with a full-scale vehicle flight-test program expected by the end of 2023.
