Uav drone uk full#

“This aircraft can take off in 300ft of runway so enough for the trial we have already undertaken design work to add sponsons and make a full run of 700ft available.” The first step would be to increase the available length for the unassisted launch of drones.Ĭol Kelly added: “This November, we will a Mojave aircraft off the angle of the flight deck off the US east coast. “We are looking at a demonstrable progression that spreads out the financial cost and incrementally improves capability.” “In future, drones will move heavy items and that’s what we are moving towards,” they said.Ĭolonel Phil Kelly, the head of carrier strike and maritime aviation within the Royal Navy’s Develop Directorate, said: “We are looking to move from short take-off and landing, then to short take-off but arrested recovery, and then to take-off but arrested recovery. So they drop their ordinance before they land, which is wasteful. However, a Navy source explained that the “challenge is to get an aeroplane in the sky”, which is where the aircraft’s ramp is used.īecause of the aircraft’s weight when loaded with ordinance, it makes landing vertically too difficult there as it is too heavy.

The Telegraph understands that the reason to explore the new ramp is “part of the Navy’s future maritime vision” that shows a shift away from relying on fighter jets.Ĭurrently, both HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales are fitted for F-35s. The new aircraft launch and recovery systems would “open up” the flight deck to a broader range of aircrafts and drones. The Navy confirmed it was looking at how it can introduce a new way of sending aircraft off the flight decks of both aircraft carriers, rather than relying on the ramp for jets to take off. The Royal Navy plans to adapt aircraft carriers to launch drones as part of its “future maritime vision”.

Uav drone uk