Royal Navy first as drone jets launch from aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales
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HMS Prince of Wales has been experimenting with ‘crewless’ fixed-wing drones, called the QinetiQ Banshee Jet 80+.
The jet-powered aircraft, which looks like a mini fighter aircraft, can soar 25,000ft, skim just above the waves, and flies at speeds of around 460mph.
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Hide AdIt is hard to detect on radar, giving it all the likeness of an incoming missile – making it a realistic adversary for sailors to train in countering aerial threats.
These drones could eventually be carried by Royal Navy warships and provide operational training to task groups across the globe, sharpening crews’ air defence skills.
The Banshee flights represent the first step for the Senior Service in exploring how crewless tech could be operated from the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers in the future.
‘There is a real need for a low-cost drone such as the Banshee that can replicate a range of the threats in the skies and provide a test bed for future payloads,’ said Commander Rob Taylor, lead for Royal Navy air test and evaluation group.
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Hide Ad‘The key to this is that a warship can carry this drone with it on operations, launch it and use it to keep personnel razor-sharp in countering threats from above.’
The demonstration with Portsmouth-based HMS Prince of Wales looked at how the drone and associated support equipment, including launcher, can be integrated within a busy ship and flight deck.
Flight Test Engineers and operators from QinetiQ, which owns and operates the Banshee, flew three of the air vehicles from the drone’s launcher on the Hebrides range off the northwest coast of Scotland.
The Banshee launched from the ship and recovered to land via parachute.
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Hide AdCdr Taylor added the launch was the first step in a wider programme to work out how the navy will use aerial drones in the future.
‘The programme will look at rotary wing and fixed wing drones to fulfil a number of tasks to increase mass on the carriers and allow crewed aircraft to maximise their capacity,’ Cdr Taylor said.
‘The Banshee demonstration is just the start of the un-crewed autonomous systems programme of work for the Royal Navy.’
