» Read the BAE Corax UCAV factsheet
A multi-million pound contract which could change the future direction of Lancashire's aerospace industry is on the brink of being signed.
BAE Systems is to work with the Royal Air Force's Air Warfare Centre on a project to integrate the company's HERTI Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) System into UK military exercises. This will be the first time a fully-autonomous UAV has been introduced into military exercises in the UK.
BAE Systems believes the four-nation Eurofighter consortium could evolve to serve as the industrial vehicle for a European multirole unmanned air vehicle programme if emerging national requirements could be harmonised.
BAE Systems engineers and technologists in the UK and Australia have developed new, unmanned, fully autonomous air vehicles that are set to push the boundaries of autonomous flight and mission management.
March 27, 2006: In Europe, several robotic warplanes ( the Neuron, the Barrakuda and the Corax) are under development. These UACV (Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles) concepts began in the Untied States, but Europe wants to remain competitive with the U.S. military aircraft industry.