The British Defense Ministry is trying to push the acquisition process for an armed long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle in the first quarter of 2010 to avoid the requirement becoming ensnared in the pending full-blown defense review. The tentative in-service date is 2015. The Mantis technology demonstrator program offers the U.K. Defense Ministry one option to meet its emerging armed Istar UAV requirement.Credit: DOUGLAS BARRIE/AW&ST

While there are indications that funding problems remain, the ministry is understood to be trying to get approval for the so-called initial gate phase of the program in the first quarter of 2010.

One long-standing element of the U.K.'s Dabinett intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance program is for an endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), though this was initially envisioned as a sensor platform only.

The shift to an armed intelligence surveillance target acquisition and reconnaissance (Istar) platform was briefed to industry by ministry Defense Equipment & Support officials in August. A further industry briefing could occur early next year. The companies involved were BAE Systems, Cobham, EADS, Rolls-Royce, Selex Galileo, Thales and Qinetiq.

At the political level there is also renewed impetus to explore the potential for European collaboration, at least in the medium-altitude long-endurance UAV arena.

Given the problems with multilateral projects, however, the preference could be for a bilateral program. The emergence of a collaborative program could also have far-reaching industrial implications.

A Franco/British summit held in July raised the possibility of closer alignment between London and Paris in this area. The joint declaration released as a result of the meeting between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy identified the intent to explore the potential for closer ties in the development of Istar UAVs and unmanned combat air vehicles "in the mid-to-long term."

Whether interest in closer Anglo-French defense industrial ties will be sustained by London should there be a change of government in the U.K., as seems likely, also is an issue. The Conservative Party is well ahead in opinion polls, and it traditionally leans far more strongly toward Washington in the defense sphere.

BAE Systems is already leading the development of the Mantis MALE UAV, a jointly funded technology demonstrator program with the Defense Ministry. The demonstrator airframe was originally anticipated to fly in the first quarter of this year, but this is now likely in the fourth quarter.

Initial flight demonstration of the Mantis covers Spiral One of the development. BAE and the Defense Ministry have been discussing Spiral Two for some time, though there is yet no firm contract. The company, however, is already working on various refinements to the basic design.