The British secret Taranis drone completed its third and possibly last round of test flights later this year, said the Ministry of Defence has Said. The Taranis program £ 200 million, which is making the most advanced aircraft ever built by British engineers, have achieved their objectives if tests go well this year, officials said. It has not taken a decision on further tests.
The remotely piloted drone built by BAE Systems, is a "demonstrator combat vehicle" to test and develop the technology for future generations of unmanned fighters. It is expected to provide the basis for future fleets of supersonic unmanned stealth bombers that can strike deep into enemy territory while evading sophisticated defenses. Taranis has already completed two sets of test flights and flying from one place, but unnamed, believed to have been in Woomera, Australia. To say that is controlled by a pilot in a distant base, has "a high degree of automated capabilities." In the tests they have watched their stealth technology, control systems and sensors. The Defense Ministry declined to say when would be the next round of testing. Once tests have been completed and the engineers will spend months reviewing the data used to decide how drones could be used in the future.
Lessons learned from the drone will someday help in the production of a replacement for the Typhoon and F35 fighters, the minister Philip Dunne defense teams said. British is also working with France to devise a future combat drone. The growing importance of the military drone was highlighted in the last week when David Cameron acknowledged that an aircraft of the RAF Reaper had carried out a targeted assassination of a British jihadist inside Syria. "The demonstration aircraft másavanzado technologically ever built in the UK, Taranis took its first flight in 2013, with more scheduled to complete flight tests in late 2015. In addition to help influence the next generation of military aircraft, the investment will benefit to the overall economy of the UK and help achieve long-term growth. "
