BAE Unveils Brontanax CCA

BAE Systems has lifted the lid on its hitherto secret Brontanax collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) program. A full-scale model was unveiled for the first time at Farnborough on Wednesday by the UK’s newly appointed defense secretary, Wes Streeting, along with BAE Systems group CEO Charles Woodburn and the chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth.

In recent years, it has become clear that large CCAs will be a vital element of future air forces, adding combat mass and persistence at around 25% of the cost of a crewed fighter, and at far less risk to aircrew. Air chiefs are clamoring for the capability as soon as it can be fielded, and in the UK, the Royal Air Force requires a CCA capability to partner Typhoons and F-35s by the end of this decade. In so doing, the RAF aims to become Europe’s first sixth-generation air force.

BAE has worked behind closed doors on its own CCA program since 2022, starting with around 18 months of operational analysis. The company has funded the project with about £300 million (about $401 million) of internal investment to date, and the design draws in part on BAE's long involvement in autonomous systems, including the Taranis stealthy uncrewed combat air vehicle. The company has enlisted around 100 UK companies, adding innovative technology and pace to development and production.

Brontanax is aimed squarely at the UK’s Storm Fighter CCA acquisition program, announced last week, and will act as an operational concept demonstrator. However, BAE has designed the Brontanax as a production-ready vehicle, and the first example has been built on production-standard tooling.

Driven by the aggressive initial operating capability target, the development roadmap will see the essentially complete first aircraft powered up for the first time in the third quarter of this year, leading to ground trials in the first half of 2027. Flight trials are slated to get underway in the second half of 2027. Later that year, the Brontanax is due to take part in Steadfast Defender—a NATO air defense exercise—to prove its ability to operate with the Typhoon and augment the crewed fighter’s ability to defend airspace.

Brontanax is a roughly Hawk-sized uncrewed air vehicle with a design somewhat redolent of the crewed Tempest/GCAP fighter. With a maximum takeoff weight of more than five tonnes, the vehicle is initially powered by a Williams International engine, but Rolls-Royce is developing engines in the Orpheus family that are likely to power the CCA in the future.

The vehicle has two internal weapons bays sized to fit current and prospective RAF weapons, and they can also accommodate other effectors, such as the Blizzard decoy/defense suppression air vehicle that BAE and Lockheed Martin are developing. Its modular design permits rapid evolution to meet emerging threats and allows potential export customers to tailor the vehicle to their own national requirements and equipment.

From the outset, the Brontanax has been designed with the Royal Navy in mind. The vehicle can launch from an aircraft carrier without a catapult, but would need some form of arresting system and a stronger undercarriage for shipboard operations. However, the necessary modifications can be incorporated on a single production line for both ship-based and land-based variants. The requirements of both the air force and navy are closely matched in terms of timeline and capability.