BAE Systems

A major player in aerospace innovation has bitten the dust. Reaction Engines, a developer of hypersonic engine technology since 1989, has gone into administration and its closure is having an impact on the hypersonic weapons program of Britain and others.

At this year's Farnborough International Airshow, Britain, Italy and Japan are showing off the latest concept model of the sixth-generation fighter being developed by the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), highlighting its advanced aerodynamics.

In a teaser of things to come, BAE Systems has displayed a model of its future drone at the World Defense Show in Riyadh. Steeped in more mystery than a Raymond Chandler novel, it gives us a hint of what future military drones might look like.

In a recent live-fire field test, BAE Systems' Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS) prototype took out a small fleet of quadcopter drones in spectacular fashion using a Moog modular weapons system.

The Sixth-Generation fighter plane commonly known as the Tempest has taken a major step toward being reality after Britain, Japan, and Italy signed an international treaty in Tokyo to create a formal partnership to develop a new supersonic aircraft.

The UK/US/Australian AUKUS nuclear attack submarine treaty is moving from diplomacy to nuts-and-bolts after the UK Ministry of Defence awarded a £3.95-billion contract to begin detailed design work and long-term procurement for the SSN-AUKUS-class boat.

A recent NATO exercise in the waters off the coast of Portugal saw naval drones reach a new level. As part of the exercise, a BAE Systems/Malloy Aeronautics T-600 heavy lift Uncrewed Air System (UAS) air launched an inert Sting Ray training torpedo.

In a sky-high, 24-hour test flight, BAE System successfully sent its High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) PHASA-35 solar-powered drone into the stratosphere, reaching an altitude of over 66,000 ft (20,000 m).

BAE Systems has won a US$37-million contract from the US Department of Defense to design the Next Generation Evolved SeaSparrow Missile Launch System (NGELS), which would give warships without a vertical launch missile system a similar capability.

BAE Systems and the US Army have successfully test fired a Sub-Caliber Artillery Long-Range Projectile with Enhanced Lethality from a 155 mm XM907E2 cannon at the White Sands Missile Range with double the range of current precision guided munitions.

Along with its new X-winged VTOL military drone, BAE Systems has announced a new "Razer" system designed to take standard non-guided munitions and convert them into precision guided missiles, at low cost, and delivered through local manufacturing.

BAE Systems has unveiled a fascinating new autonomous, hybrid, VTOL UAV for military use. The STRIX, developed in Australia, folds to fit inside a shipping container, and is capable of carrying 160 kg (353 lb) of payload over 800 km (500 miles).