The Aircraft of British Aerospace and BAE SYSTEMS 1977 - 2017 129BAE goEs UAV
BAE Jetstream ASTRAEA trials
Many of these autonomous systems are
being developed using the company’s
Jetstream 31 G-BWWW which functions
as a surrogate UAV testbed, where the
on-board pilots can take their hands off
the controls and hand over control to the
on-board system developed by the
ASTRAEA team. The ASTRAEA
(Autonomous Systems Technology
Related Airborne Evaluation and
Assessment) programme is designed to
allow UAVs to fly safely through classes of
airspace safely without special restrictions
of operation. BAE is one of seven
aerospace companies involved in UK
industry-led ASTRAEA. BAE’s test
programme is critical to helping the UK
reach its target. Admittedly it has a vested
interest, as currently it can only test
Taranis in Australia. Proving it could be
flown safely in the UK would speed up
development and lower costs.
During 2012 the Jetstream began a
series of more than 20 flights
demonstrating its capabilities while
operating in shared airspace. Onboard
control systems mean it can fly as if it
were a UAV without any input from the
pilots. The ASTRAEA system is designed to
prevent mid-air collisions with other
aircraft using a ‘sense and avoid’ system,
detecting and avoiding bad weather
conditions and relaying air traffic control
instructions to the remote pilot via
satellite to the ground control station.
In April 2013, G-BWWW flew on a
Demon
Demon, a combined development of
BAE and Cranfield University, is a UAV
designed to fly without using
conventional elevators or ailerons, using
jet blasts of air blown over the trailing
edges of its wings to manoeuvre. The
small jet-powered demonstrator which
weighs approximately 90kgs has a
wingspan of just 2.5m made from
carbon-fibre. It made the first flight of an
aircraft without moving flying controls
allowed by the UK Civil Aviation
Authority on 17 September 2010 from
Walney Island. Because it is designed to
fly with no conventional elevators or
ailerons, getting its pitch and roll control
from blown air, it requires fewer moving
parts, making it easier to maintain and
repair. Demon can fly parts of its mission
by itself but, as it is currently an
experimental vehicle and is not fully
autonomous unlike the MANTIS.
The challenge for BAE would be to circuitous route from BAE Warton to
Inverness. It was the first flight in UK
airspace by a full-sized UAV controlled by
a remote pilot at Warton with the aircraft
making its own routine decisions. (There
was a human pilot on board in the event
of emergency). There were no passengers,
but the 16-seater aircraft flew in airspace
shared with passenger airliners during the
500-mile journey. The BAE SYSTEMS/Cranfield University
Demon made the first flight of an aircraft
without moving flying controls allowed by
the UK Civil Aviation Authority on 17
September 2010. It is a very small
jet-powered demonstrator weighing 90kgs
with wingspan of 2.5m. (BAE Systems) BAE made the maiden flight of its low-observable UCAV technology demonstrator, Taranis ZZ250 at Woomera 13
August 2013. Taranis is approximately the same size as the Hawk trainer and is also powered by an Adour 951 engine.
(BAE Systems)