BAE Systems Unveils Brontanax Collaborative Combat Aircraft | Aviation International News

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BAE Unveils Brontanax CCA

The first example is essentially complete and will fly next year

Brontanax — The Brontanax is aimed at the UK MOD’s Storm Fighter program of record for a collaborative combat aircraft. © David McIntosh/AIN

By David Donald • Contributor - UK

July 23, 2026

BAE Systems has lifted the lid on its hitherto secret Brontanax collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) program. A full-scale model was unveiled for the first time at Farnborough on Wednesday by the UK’s newly appointed defense secretary, Wes Streeting, along with BAE Systems group CEO Charles Woodburn and the chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth.

In recent years, it has become clear that large CCAs will be a vital element of future air forces, adding combat mass and persistence at around 25% of the cost of a crewed fighter, and at far less risk to aircrew. Air chiefs are clamoring for the capability as soon as it can be fielded, and in the UK, the Royal Air Force requires a CCA capability to partner Typhoons and F-35s by the end of this decade. In so doing, the RAF aims to become Europe’s first sixth-generation air force.

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