Ross Wilkers
A consortium of companies led by BAE Systems is set to conduct test flights of a combat drone later this year over a desert in southern Australia, nearly four years after BAE tested a propeller-driven drone over the same range.
The Taranis drone is named after the Celtic god of thunder and is the world’s first supersonic stealth unmanned combat aircraft, News.com.au reports.
Ian McPhedran writes Taranis has a 12-meter flying delta wing design and a 10-meter wingspan for traveling at Mach 7 speed, or seven times faster than the speed of sound.
Taranis was also designed to remain undetected by enemy radars and fly on a pre-determined flight path with an on-board computer guide, according to the report.
The drone is similar in design to the Northrop Grumman-built B2 bomber, according to the report.
