New phase for the Eurofighter: it will develop the “Loyal wingman” concept
Airbus is working to develop piloted aerial – unmanned drone teaming capability for the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet.
The concept is that of the " Loyal wingman ", that is, a drone that follows the main aircraft and acts as an assistant with a series of functions that can range from electronic warfare, to the transport of additional weapon systems, to the function of defining the targets. This is a concept under development in various air forces, from the US to the Chinese one.
The development of these capabilities with the Eurofighter will be in two phases including the demonstration of the teaming capability on the Eurofighter as part of the X-Platform Capability Study (XPCS).
Boeing's Loyal Wingman
In the second phase, a two-seat Eurofighter will be developed, equipped with a new cockpit and connectivity elements as part of System and Teaming Advanced Research (STAR).
Test bed for the Franco-German Future Combat Air System
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) will leverage technologies developed in both phases, including the cockpit human-machine interface.
The FCAS is a European sixth-generation fighter aircraft project, developed to replace the French Rafale, German Typhoon and Spanish EF-18 Hornet in 2040.
The aircraft will have advanced avionics, weapons, stealth and human-human teaming capabilities.
“The Eurofighter will be a stepping stone to FCAS, planned to enable teaming capability and sensor fusion between multiple aircraft assets ahead of FCAS EIS expected in 2040,” reads an Airbus job announcement.
“In the most complex threat scenarios, FCAS will provide escalating operational effects by leveraging the collaborative capabilities of connected platforms, bringing the next level of Air Power into highly denied environments.”
According to the announcement, the project will be conducted at Airbus Defense and Space facilities in Manching, Germany.
Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan are already developing an aircraft of the same generation, the GCAP, which will have similar characteristics and which has already produced the working prototype Tempest.
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The article New phase for the Eurofighter: it will develop the concept of the “Loyal wingman” comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/nuova-fase-per-leurofighter-sviluppera-il-concetto-del-loyal-wingman/ on Fri, 17 May 2024 10:17:54 +0000.