Extreme secrecy surrounds the joint
British-French project and the drone called Taranis, named after the Celtic
god of thunder and built by a British/French consortium led by aerospace giant
BAE Systems.
Resembling an insect and using the delta-shaped "flying
wing'' technology favoured by modern-day stealth aircraft such as America's B-2
stealth bomber, Taranis
is designed to fly above the speed of sound over long distances undetected
by enemy radars to attack targets with an array of precision missiles and
bombs.
Unlike current generation attack drones such as Predator and
Reaper, that are used extensively to attack insurgent targets in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Yemen,
Taranis will carry the latest in remote defensive technology so it can also
evade missiles and hostile manned
Unmanned drones are unlikely to ever
engage in a dog fight with a manned fighter jet, but the technology is being
developed. A more likely future scenario is a long-range missile fight between
combat drones.
The Woomera restricted area has already played host to a number of world firsts including the maiden flight of a scram jet engine that could power aircraft to speeds in excess 8500 kmh or Mach 7 - seven times the speed of sound.
That would enable future passenger jets to fly a sub-orbital
trajectory from Sydney to London
in two hours.
The rocket range is the second busiest launch pad in the
world after NASA's Cape Canaveral in Florida.
In 2009 BAE Systems flew a propeller driven drone known as a
Mantis at Woomera.
The military regularly uses the range to test missiles and foreign governments use the vast test site for a variety of top-secret test missions.
The company said Taranis was designed to utilise the most
advanced means possible of achieving low observability.
"This includes both the systems and technology inside
the aircraft as well as the shape, design and finish of the exterior of the
aircraft. This does mean that there are aspects of the exterior design of the
aircraft which remain classified,'' it said.
Other details such as range and top speed are also top-secret.
The development of pilotless combat aircraft is
controversial and many regard the risks of mistakes associated with removing
humans from the kill chain as unacceptable.
Several American companies are also developing unmanned
fighters and helicopters for land and sea based operations.
A senior American aerospace executive told News Limited that
the fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, being purchased by the RAAF,
will be the last manned fighter built in the US.
Concept Super Drone Taranis
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