Israel Matzav

Britain develops stealth capable UAV

Britain has developed a stealth capable UAV that is capable of carrying out surveillance and combat missions across the world. The vehicle is called Taranis and it looks like something from outer space.

Defence firm BAE Systems today officially unveiled its first ever high-tech unmanned stealth jet.

The Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, is about the same size as a Hawk jet and is equipped with stealth equipment and an 'autonomous' artificial intelligence system.

The plane will test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even in another continent.

The trial aircraft cost £143 million pounds to construct and spearheads BAE's drive to convince the Ministry of Defence to invest in the next generation of unmanned aircraft.

Almost invisible to ground radar, it is designed to travel at high jet speeds and cover massive distances between continents.

The plane is built to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on enemy territory using onboard sensors.

And it has been designed to carry a cache of weapons - including bombs and missiles -, giving it a potential long-range strike capability.

It can be controlled from anywhere in the world with satellite communications.

Test flights are scheduled to start in 2011.

You have to wonder why the Brits are spending so much money on this. Maybe because with Obama in power they no longer trust the US? (Maybe not - development was started in 2006).

Israel might also be interested in this sort of thing to stop Iran. I wonder if we have one under development.

Hmmm.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:50 AM