BAE Systems has unveiled its latest attritable autonomous collaborative platform (ACP) based on the company’s “Concept 2” at this year’s World Defense Show in Riyadh. Showcased on the opening day, February 4, the new BAE ACP has been designed, BAE explains, to operate alongside future and current-generation combat aircraft.
[An ACP is a cost-effective, expendable unmanned system designed for teamwork in military operations, enhancing capabilities while minimising risk to human life.]
The latest design includes a new wing shape and low-observable features. The changes consider new wing assembly and production approaches, using electrical instead of hydraulic actuation systems. The company’s “Concept 2” system debuted at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2022 and featured a main-wing and wide V-tail configuration.
Steve Reeves, head of business development and strategy for platforms in BAE Systems’ FalconWorks unit, explained to Aviation Week that the aircraft design was altered to improve its characteristics through digital engineering work.
“So, what you see here is a more optimized design, not just from a [low observable] perspective, but just as importantly, the cost point to the customer and manufacturing,” Reeves said.
“At the heart of this is developing affordable combat mass, which is really the step-change in how we can do things differently,” he added. “Concept 2″ is as large as a Hawk jet trainer and is envisioned to perform diverse missions, including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and carrying air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons.”
BAE has funded the development of uncrewed and autonomous air system demonstrators for nearly 30 years. “We have got a program outline that would take us toward first flight and beyond, but the pace of that will depend on customer investment,” said Reeves.
There are already initiatives underway in Europe, India, South Korea, and the U.S. competing with this platform. An autonomous collaborative platform strategy is being finalized in the UK to set the country’s vision for such a capability. However, it is said that this system will have a global appeal.
Reeves stated that the company is showcasing the capabilities that customers will need for future combat rather than displaying them at the World Defense Show. However, numerous unmanned aerial systems (UAS) were on display at the show, indicating Riyadh’s significant interest in UAS capabilities.
Platforms like “Concept 2” cost roughly one-tenth the price of manned fighters but will increase once sensors and weapons are added.
Sacrificial Aerial Systems
According to Reeves, unmanned fighter planes have a shorter lifespan of just a few hundred hours than crewed fighter planes, which can last thousands of hours. In addition, electrical actuators are more suitable for unmanned fighter planes as they can spend most of their life in a storage container.
“We are keeping things as simple as they possibly can be, but as we as we look to the future, then we’re only limited by our imagination and customers, designers, producers,”
Reeves said.