UK MoD announces CCA, UAS programs

The UK Ministry of Defence has announced a series of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) and Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) programs. The UK Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, made the announcement at the Global Air and Space Chief’s Conference in London on 16 July.

The UK Royal Air Force’s new autonomous CCA program will be named Storm Fighter. It will make the RAF Europe’s first 6th generation Air Force, Pollard said, and comes alongside the £5 billion which the UK MoD is investing in UASs and other advanced uncrewed systems that he said will nourish the country’s defence innovation ecosystem.

He also spoke for the first time about Project Vanquish, which is trialling a jet-powered UAS to serve alongside RAN and RAF F-35Bs, but revealed very little about it.