Brontanax. The first British-designed Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
An autonomous loyal-wingman drone from BAE Systems' FalconWorks division at Warton, built to fly alongside the RAF's Typhoon today and the Tempest / GCAP fighter of the 2030s. First flight targeted for the second half of 2027.
- Prototype name
- Brontanax
- Manufacturer
- BAE Systems
- First flight target
- H2 2027
- Programme
- StormFighter
A stepping stone to Tempest.
Revealed by BAE Systems at Farnborough on 22 July 2026, Brontanax is a pre-production Operational Concept Demonstrator for the UK's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) requirement. Described by BAE as similar in size to a Hawk trainer, it is designed as an uncrewed teammate — a "loyal wingman" — to crewed fighters.
The airframe was designed and built at Warton, Lancashire, with more than 500 BAE engineers and over 75 UK suppliers. BAE positions it as its candidate for the Royal Air Force's newly-named StormFighter programme — the sovereign CCA effort that replaces the cancelled Project Mosquito — and as a technology bridge to the sixth-generation GCAP / Tempest fighter being developed with Japan and Italy.
Sources: BAE Systems press release · Forces News · The Aviationist.
Combat mass, at a fraction of the cost.
BAE's FalconWorks director Dave Holmes has targeted 70–80% of Typhoon's capability at 20–25% of the cost — a formula intended to let the RAF field many more platforms without more pilots at risk.
Flies alongside crewed Typhoon today and Tempest / GCAP in the 2030s.
EW payload role confirmed by BAE at the Farnborough unveiling.
Air-to-air and air-to-ground strike stated in the official brief.
Modular architecture; customers can integrate sovereign sensors and weapons.
What we know today.
BAE has withheld dimensions, weight, speed and range. What follows is drawn only from the official press release, briefings at Farnborough 2026 and reporting by Breaking Defense, Shephard Media, Naval News, UK Defence Journal, Forces News and The Aviationist.
- Configuration
- Low-observable delta wing, canted twin tails, single engine, belly inlet
- Size class
- Similar to a BAE Systems Hawk trainer
- Propulsion
- Rolls-Royce in development (sovereign propulsion, per Defence Investment Plan)
- Ratio to crewed jet
- Indicative 4:1 CCA to fighter (BAE, not doctrine)
- Power-on
- Targeted Q3 2026
- Ground trials
- First half of 2027
- First flight
- H2 2027 · timed to NATO Steadfast Defender 27
- In service
- Before the end of the decade
Formation with Typhoon.
The RAF concept of operations pairs uncrewed Brontanax airframes with a crewed Eurofighter Typhoon lead — pushing sensors, jammers and weapons forward while keeping the pilot behind the threat line. An indicative 4:1 CCA-to-fighter ratio has been floated by BAE, though UK doctrine is not yet fixed.
The real Farnborough 2026 photographs.
The only authentic photographs of Brontanax are the BAE Systems press pack from the 22 July 2026 unveiling and coverage by accredited defence publications. Rather than rehost copyrighted press images, we link out — with full credit — to the primary galleries.
Official press release with full-resolution unveiling imagery.
Walk-around photographs of the Brontanax mock-up at Farnborough.
BAE imagery of Brontanax including carrier-launch concept art.
RAF-facing coverage and photography of the reveal.
Defence-trade briefing and stand photography from FIA 2026.
StormFighter programme context with official BAE stills.
All photographs © their respective copyright holders · Links open on the original publisher
A new daily brief on the UK's drone future.
brontanax.com publishes a fresh open-source intelligence brief every day, tracking StormFighter, GCAP / Tempest and the wider Collaborative Combat Aircraft race across the UK, US, Australia and Europe.