Defense innovation firm Leonardo has announced the completion of the first phase of modification for the United Kingdom’s Excalibur flight test aircraft (FTA).
It is an important step towards the country’s Tempest next-generation fighter aircraft.
Leonardo, 2Excel, and the UK’s Ministry of Defense also stated that the program is running on schedule and is expected to be completed at the desired time.
Excalibur is a former commercial Boeing 757 aircraft that is being overhauled into a flying laboratory for combat air technology.
The FTA is part of the UK’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which will include the core fighter being developed under the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), as well as a broader range of capabilities such as uncrewed aircraft, information systems, and weapon systems.
Excalibur modification
In the first phase of modification, the Excalibur FTA was equipped with new side and belly pods – which were assessed for stability during flight.
The new side and belly pods change the outer mold line of the aircraft. These pods are designed to host the Integrated Sensors, Non-Kinetic Effects (ISANKE), and Integrated Communications Systems (ICS) that Leonardo UK and its international partners are developing as part of their work on GCAP.
This is just the first phase of modification; the aircraft will now undergo further engineering work at Qinetiq’s Boscombe Down facility in Wiltshire.
Further modifications will include a fighter jet-style nose cone, to host advanced radar-based sensor demonstrators, according to the press release by Leonardo.
The program will soon move to the installation phase of ISANKE and ICS technology demonstration systems.
The press release mentions that Excalibur is expected to fly with the new ISANKE and ICS technology onboard within the next few years. Further testing and refining of the technology systems will be carried out by the scientists and engineers onboard.
With onboard testing, Leonardo and other parties involved in the program, aim to de-risk and accelerate the development and “support the ambitious timescales of GCAP.”
UK’s involvement in FCAS and GCAP
Leonardo has been working on the UK’s FCAS program since 2012.
Focusing on the development of advanced defense electronics, Leonardo is also a founding partner of Team Tempest, alongside the UK MOD, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and MBDA UK.
Earlier this year, in July, three nations of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) – UK, Italy, and Japan – unveiled a new concept model for their next-generation combat aircraft.
The GCAP program aims to field the aircraft and its support systems in each of the three countries.
The concept model had been unveiled at the Farnborough International Airshow in England, alongside it, photos of the progress made till then on the program were showed.
According to reports, the demonstrator aircraft will likely be powered by a pair of Eurojet EJ200 turbofan engines. However, the final aircraft will fly with a new type of engine – which is under development.
The development of the demonstrator is going to accelerate the development of Tempest and also allow for testing the broader technologies that come under the FCAS program.
