UK has announced the launch of the StormFighter Joint Combat Aircraft program as part of its unmanned combat platforms initiative…
The program is intended to enable autonomous aerial vehicles to operate alongside Typhoon, F-35 and, in the future, Tempest fighter aircraft.
The StormFighter program has been allocated £300 million under the United Kingdom’s Defence Investment Plan.
During the initial phase, the uncrewed combat aircraft developed under StormFighter are planned to be integrated with the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon and F-35 fleets.
The platforms developed under the program are not intended to replace crewed fighter aircraft. Instead, they are expected to enhance the survivability and operational effectiveness of crewed assets by conducting reconnaissance, electronic warfare, protective escort and strike missions in high-threat environments.
Following their initial integration with the Typhoon and F-35 fleets, the StormFighter platforms are expected to be made compatible with Tempest, the sixth-generation combat aircraft being developed under the Global Combat Air Programme.
The program’s technology demonstrator is scheduled to fly by 2030. However, the Royal Air Force has indicated that an initial demonstrator could operate alongside a Typhoon as early as 2027.
Together with the electronic warfare-focused Storm Chrome, the one-way attack system Storm Fire and the operational StormShroud system, StormFighter is expected to become a central component of the Royal Air Force’s future crewed-uncrewed collaborative air operations architecture…