BAE Systems Reveals Unmanned Air System Concept Models

BAE Systems unveiled two new unmanned aircraft concepts at this year's Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) being held at the Royal Air Force's (RAF) base at Fairford in the United Kingdom.

The first of BAE's newly revealed designs, currently referred to as the Concept 1 is a relatively small drone capable of operating either individually or as part of a networked swarm. It can carry a payload of 40kg, can reach an altitude of 30,000ft, endurance of 4 hours and can attain speeds of 0.5 Mach. It could likely carry electro-optical or infrared sensor packages, electronic warfare (EW) jammers, or unspecified munitions.

The aircraft’s general design consists of a central fuselage with a bullet-like shape, two main wings with a very minor sweep, and twin vertical tails. It appears to be jet-powered, with an air intake positioned above the top rear portion of the fuselage.

Concept 1 is runway independent, being launched from a rail-type catapult and then using a parachute recovery system to 'land' after a mission. It will be able to operate singularly or as part of a networked swarm, and will have what BAE calls "goal-based autonomy," the latter capability likely describing ability to carry out specific orders without further direct human interaction. From a logistical standpoint, Concept 1 is also intended to be rapidly deployable utilizing a containerized storage system.

UAS Concept 2 is a medium-size UAS designed to substitute or augment existing forces in the Attack, ISR and Control of the Air Roles of Air Power.

The Concept 2 design has a long, slender main fuselage compared to Concept 1, along with 'lambda'-like swept main wings and a splayed v-tail. This unmanned aircraft also looks to be jet powered with a very prominent top-mounted air intake and will take off and land like a traditional airplane. It looks similar to Lockheed Martin's recently unveiled Tactical Expendable-Combat Air Vehicle (TE-CAV) and Kratos' XQ-58A Valkyrie.

The Concept 2 drone will include a five-hour endurance, the ability to fly up to an altitude of 40,000ft, and reach a top speed of at least 0.75 Mach. With a maximum takeoff weight of 3,500kg, it could carry more of what Concept 1 carries.

According to BAE Systems, Concept 2 could carry SPEAR 3 air-to-ground missiles, Meteor air-to-air missiles. There could be land and maritime variants.