http://www.difesaonline.it/mondo-militare/ufo-nel-cielo-no-%C3%A8-il-taranis

(Franco Iacch)
10/06/16

The last flight of the Taranis should have done last fall, in Australia, but the beginning of a new series of tests may be imminent. The British Ministry of Defense is considering the opportunity to further test the capabilities of Taranis, considered the most advanced UAV in the world.

It 'a matter for the Ministry of Defence - set out from BAE Systems - we are still studying the data collected during previous flights.

The information about the real capacity of Taranis are classified, as well as the number of missions carried out until today. E 'it was only confirmed one fact: all flights of the second and third phases of the technology demonstrator were conducted in the final stealth configuration. The third phase should have taken place in Australia, the second in Europe.

Taranis is designed for asymmetric warfare and the air-to-air combat and air-to-ground. Taranis has successfully completed a test flight, recorded and publicized on August 10 of 2014 in the military range Woomera in South Australia. He flew for 15 minutes, performing maneuvers at various altitudes and at different speeds before landing. A week later, on Aug. 17, it is another test flight was performed. Phase two should have ended with four other flights. We do not know the details of phase three.

The program (actually could be two operating Taranis) cost $ 350 million to date, it aims to develop a low-observability aircraft unmanned for C4ISTAR missions for surveillance, information gathering and electronic warfare in enemy territory.

The wings of Taranis have a high angle of positive arrow with an opening measuring 33 meters wide. According to the BAE Systems Taranis it is the ne plus ultra of engineering and aeronautical design.

In the second series of test flights, the operators have evaluated the electronic warfare capabilities, encrypted communications systems, the integration between the engine and the signature of the aircraft to evade radar detection.

"Taranis", the name of the Celtic god of thunder, is part of the Anglo-French program known as Future Combat Air System (FCAS). FCAS aims to develop a new fighter stealth drone, with member countries that contribute in equal parts to the middle of the program budget.

We know that most of the drone technology was developed in England, but several US companies, including General Electric and Triumph Group, who designed most of the flight systems.

The first flight of Taranis took place between October 2013 and March 2014. The drone has demonstrated its ability to roll independently toward the runway for takeoff, take off and fly up to the target zone. Taranis would then be able to generate a flight plan to the target, locate it and return to the base. The aircraft also carried out a simulated assessment of damage to the target before performing a landing: all without human intervention.

The investment for the Taranis is covered for 30% by BAE and the British Ministry of Defence for the remaining 70 percent.

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IZAKOVIC