What BAE says Brontanax is built to do.
Only two mission sets have been officially named at unveiling — electronic warfare and precision strike — but the surrounding briefings and the Defence Investment Plan sketch a wider picture of how the aircraft is meant to fight.
Manned-unmanned teaming
Designed to fly alongside crewed fighters — initially Typhoon, later GCAP / Tempest — under the direction of a pilot or a mission commander operating from range. BAE showed an indicative 4:1 CCA-to-fighter ratio at Farnborough, though senior military adviser Sir Gerry Mayhew described that ratio as illustrative only.
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare is one of the two mission sets BAE and the UK MoD have publicly assigned to Brontanax. Specific EW payloads have not been disclosed. The open architecture is intended to let customers plug in their own EW suites.
Precision strike
The second confirmed mission set is precision strike against airborne and ground targets. Weapon types and internal / external carriage details have not been released. Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth has framed Brontanax as central to the RAF becoming Europe's first sixth-generation air force.
Autonomy
Uncrewed and autonomous, with autonomy behaviours drawn from more than 25 years of BAE work on uncrewed combat air systems. BAE positions Brontanax as an operational bridge between today's remotely piloted platforms and the deeper autonomy planned for the GCAP era.
Open architecture
BAE has stressed a modular, open-architecture design so that export customers can integrate their own indigenous sensors, mission systems and weapons — the same route Middle East operators have taken with other uncrewed platforms.
Sovereign supply chain
The UK Defence Investment Plan calls for a "sovereign, world-leading propulsion system" for the StormFighter effort. BAE has confirmed it is working with Rolls-Royce, which is said to be scaling current developments to meet the required thrust and cost point.
"Our Collaborative Combat Aircraft will provide the ability to extend the reach of crewed aircraft, generating greater combat mass at lower cost, while keeping pilots out of harm's way."