UK aerospace giant to build killer drones – ‘mini fighter jets’ | UK | News
A UK manufacturing giant will start producing lethal drones described as “small fighter jets” as firms look to take advantage of European powers by increasing defense spending. GKN Aerospace is an aerospace components company headquartered in Birmingham, owned by parent company Melrose Industries.
GKN has a well-established reputation for producing aircraft parts, such as Airbus and Boeing, but joins other major players looking to add Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with military applications to their repertoire, as European countries now invest heavily in their militaries and defense industries to deter Russian aggression. Since Putin’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, attack drones have become a key component of both countries’ militaries; As the war enters its fifth year, rapid innovation in jamming, directing and targeting continues.
Other European powers, including Britain, have recognized the important role they could play in future conflicts, amid fears that Moscow’s regional ambitions could one day expand beyond Ukraine and drones could become one of the fastest-growing areas of the global defense industry. Telegram reports.
GKN’s move into drone manufacturing comes at a time when both Boeing and Airbus are facing supply chain bottlenecks that are affecting the UK firm’s revenue in the civil aviation side of its business.
But while small, cheap and makeshift drones dominate Ukraine’s battlefields, GKN wants to build larger models designed to fly alongside piloted aircraft, according to the newspaper.
These “loyal wingmen” are typically jet-powered and partially powered by artificial intelligence; This increases the air force’s reconnaissance and strike capabilities without endangering more lives.
Melrose CEO Peter Dilnot said that with the accelerated development of UAVs there has been “a significant increase in spending on sovereign capacity in Europe, read at different paces depending on government and national balance sheets.”
He added that although he could not discuss many of these projects, the company is busy rapidly developing UAV capability in almost all countries where it operates.
Giving an idea of what the vehicles might look like, Mr Dilnot said: “Things come in all different shapes and sizes depending on the mission, but I would describe them as small fighter jets.”
Mr Dilnot said their new entry into the drone market could mean they had to operate as an aircraft manufacturer in some cases and assemble complete machines, having previously focused only on parts available to aircraft manufacturers.
GKN has been awarded a contract by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) to develop a clean uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator that Stockholm can use to test unmanned technologies and evaluate their operational needs.
The company has also partnered with US start-up Anduril to bid for a contract to produce reconnaissance, surveillance and attack drones that will operate alongside the British Army’s fleet of Apache attack helicopters.
