UAV - UCAV Taranis flyr

BAE Taranis Makes First Test Flight in Australia

Posted on October 28, 2013 by The Editor

The BAE Systems Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator has made its maiden flight and is currently conducting initial flight trials, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed in written statement submitted to the UK parliament’s defence select committee.
“Flight trials are currently ongoing,” an MoD spokesperson said. Neither the MoD nor BAE Systems were able to confirm the date of the maiden flight at this stage. However, a full statement by the MoD will be issued when the Taranis flight trial programme has been completed, the spokesperson said.
Flights are understood to be ongoing at the Royal Australian Air Force’s Woomera Testing Range in South Australia where previous unmanned flight test campaigns took place, including the Mantis, Herti, Corax and Raven systems. The United Kingdom is highly secretive about the Taranis UCAV, which is known to have been seen in public on only two occasions.The aim of the Taranis concept is to explore stealthy unmanned aircraft capabilities in striking targets with real precision at long range is possible, maintaining the human control in the loop