Friday, the British Royal Air Force unveiled a new drone designed to blur enemy radars in combat to clean up a path for fighter planes of the Typhon F-35 and Eurofighter to function freely.
The Raf wrote in a statement The fact that the new drone, called Stormshroud, is now in operational service and is the first in a new family of autonomous systems that will fight alongside the crew platforms.
He said Stormshroud would support the pilots of the F-35B and the Typhon of the United Kingdom “by blinding enemy radars, which increases the survival and operational efficiency of our crew aircraft.” He added that unrelated systems are not new in the United Kingdom and that this drone was made by taking war lessons in Ukraine and other conflicts.
Among the planes that the drone can support, the F-35B is a fifth generation furtive plane manufactured by the American defense entrepreneur Lockheed Martin; The United Kingdom exploits them by Queen Elizabeth's class carriers of the Royal Navy. And the Eurofighter typhoon is a fourth generation multi-roll fighter manufactured by a consortium of European companies.
The Stormshroud drone is part of the UK efforts to integrate drones into equivalent planes for combat missions. Photo by Henry Nicholls / Pool / AFP via Getty Images
The RAF has said that the delivery of the Stormshroud “marks an important step” in efforts to mix autonomous systems in front line operations.
The drone platform – The Tekever AR3 – is made in two places in the United Kingdom and will wear Leonardo UK Baridestorm The useful charge of the electronic war which can block radars of the enemy air defenses, creating openings for crew aircraft to engage in combat missions.
Stormshroud is part of the UK's autonomous collaborative platform strategy. This effort is focused on having crew and autonomous systems operating together to reduce the pilot risk in hostile environments based on flexible and profitable systems, such as drones.
The United States has an initiative similar to the United Kingdom ACP called the collaborative combat Aircraft program. The United States has tested “Loyal Wingman” drones alongside its F-35s, and the next sixth generation F-47 is expected to fly with the CCAs.
“This is a fundamental moment for the RAF to maintain our advantage in air combat and national security,” said the chief marshal Rich Knighton, chief of air staff, in a statement.
Knighton said that the RAF is committed to pursuing advanced technologies that can improve the “letters and the survival of force in a more disputed and dangerous world”, explaining that “autonomous collaboration platforms will revolutionize the way in which we carry out a range of missions, from intelligence collection to strike and logistics support.”
The RAF said that conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East show that drones have mainly changed modern war, both for offensive and defensive missions.
