BAE Systems

One of the world's first sixth-generation fighters has moved closer to its first flight, as BAE Systems unveils the prototype Combat Air Flying Demonstrator, now under construction for the Global Combat Air Programme by Britain, Italy, and Japan.

Britain has laid the keel for the Royal Navy's largest-ever submarine. At BAE Systems's Barrow-in-Furness facility, the ceremony marked the "birth" of the nuclear-powered and armed HMS Dreadnought, one of the most advanced submarines to date.

BAE Systems has announced that STRIX, a new type of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft, made its first flight in late October. The flight was reportedly successful, paving the way for production of the unique aircraft.

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.