Taranis UAV moves into production.

The BAE Systems-led Taranis unmanned air vehicle (UAV) technology demonstrator programme is moving from the design phase into the detailed design and manufacturing phase. BAE Systems says it has moved closer to a planned year-end assembly start, following the first metal cut on the airframe at the company's Samlesbury plant in September.

The first parts to be machined included a centre fuselage frame and a major machining within the intake duct.

Paul Williams, Taranis Airframe Integration Manager, said: "The Taranis airframe is a significant step forward in terms of complexity and scale compared to previous UAV demonstrators. This has necessitated the use of a refined rapid engineering process that brings together the learning from earlier programmes such as Corax and Raven, combined with existing processes and techniques. All this has resulted in an airframe design that now forms the basis of the detail design phase."

Led by BAE Systems, Taranis will be the largest UAV built in the UK, and as part of the MoD's strategic unmanned air vehicle (experimental) (SUAV(E)) programme, the aircraft will explore and demonstrate how emerging technologies and systems can deliver battle-winning capabilities for the UK Armed Forces.

BAE Systems is the industry lead and prime contractor with other industry partners comprising QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce and GE Aviation Systems (formally Smiths Aerospace).

The design of the autonomous systems for Taranis were finalised earlier this summer. Ground testing is expected to take place in early 2009 with the first flight trials scheduled for 2010.