Pat Dollard | Young Americans

BAE Systems has begun assembly of the first major components of Taranis, the GBP124M Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that will help inform the UK MoD on the balance and capability of its ‘future force mix’.

Specialist jigs have now been set up in a dedicated assembly hangar at BAE Systems which will be home to Taranis until it prepares for its first test flights in 2010.

Chris Allam, Project Director for Taranis at BAE Systems, said: “The start of assembly on Taranis is significant. It is the first time the UK has built an unmanned air vehicle on this scale with this level of capability. The teamwork around the Programme to date has been first class.

“This first phase of assembly is scheduled to take us through to the 4th quarter of 2008 before we move in to final assembly when we equip and test the aircraft prior to ground trials at Warton during 2009. Alongside this, our colleagues at Rolls-Royce will also be working on engine bench testing to confirm the performance of the propulsion system.”

(SPX)