Storm Fighter: UK christens drone wingman program, unveils new designs

LONDON — The United Kingdom has officially designated its Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingman effort as the Storm Fighter, and is planning at least two new designs of unmanned aircraft to bolster its unmanned ambitions, government officials revealed today.

The new nomenclature for the CCA program was disclosed this morning by Luke Pollard, the UK’s minister of state for defense readiness and industry. Speaking during a keynote address here at the Global Air and Space Chiefs Conference, Pollard said the drone wingmen will perform as both a “guardian angel” and “attack dog” for British tactical aircraft.

Along with a planned futuristic fighter, Storm Fighter will “make the RAF [Royal Air Force] Europe’s first six-generation air force,” Pollard said, adding that CCA development would “lay the ground for exports, growth, partnership with friendly nations, more defense jobs, and a more resilient defense industrial base.”

Air forces around the world are pursuing CCA designs to provide what officials often describe as an “affordable mass” of systems, reasoning that the drones can supplement manned fighters at a lower cost. CCA are broadly envisioned to serve any number of roles, from lugging extra missiles to electronic attack and reconnaissance. In combat, they could also act as a missile sponge to help protect pilots. 

Speaking during a later keynote address, Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth announced the UK will pursue those missions with at least two new drone platforms. One will be called the Storm Chrome and is intended for electronic attack. The other, according to Smyth, is a one-way attack drone called Storm Fire that can hit targets as far as 1,000 miles away.

The nascent designs build off an autonomous drone called StormShroud that entered service last year. According to the RAF, the StormShroud will protect pilots by jamming enemy radars. 

“Our new Storm Fighter CCA program will markedly shift the economic calculus back in our favor, absorbing risk and enabling our crewed platforms to more readily survive,” Smyth said. 

The UK plans to invest £300m ($405 million) to launch its CCA program and plans to fly a demonstrator by “at least 2030,” according to London’s four-year, £298 billion Defence Investment Plan (DIP) published June 30. Smyth, however, said in a recent interview with Aviation Week that he wants a demonstrator to fly with a Eurofighter Typhoon as soon as next year.

The DIP was itself a source of contention, where previous defense spending levels prompted the resignation of former UK Defence Minister John Healey and ultimately culminated in the ousting of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Acknowledging the controversy, Pollard noted the government secured an increase in defense spending to the tune of £15 billion.

“We need more money for defense. That has been clear,” he said.