BAE’s Mantis drone has returned to the UK following a series of tests at an Australian military test range according to a report in Flight International. “BAE says a production version of Mantis would be able to fly at altitudes up to 50,000ft and deliver an endurance of over 36h. The design is a potential candidate for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Scavenger requirement, which seeks a persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capability to enter use from around 2015 to 2018.
The Flight article also reveals that BAE’s “combat drone” in development, Taranis, is to be unveiled at a special ceremony at BAE’s Warton factory on Monday July 12th. The seems likely to co-incide with a military industry conference on ‘weaponised’ unmanned drones due to take place in London on 13/14th July.