The Mosquito Project, a technical illustrator for the UK’s Light and Portable Combat Aircraft (LANCA) project, has been shut down “beyond the design stage”.
The announcement was made by the Royal Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) on Friday night.
“Through project mosquito and other testing activities, the Royal Air Force (RAF) has made significant progress and gained significant value in understanding the limits of future unmanned capabilities,” said Air Commodore Jes Holmes, President of the RCO. Press release. “This decision enhances the accumulated learning to date and allows the LANCA project to change direction.
This decision was made in light of the mosquito technology demonstration and the comprehensive analysis of the broader LANCA project. Skills analysis and testing was carried out jointly by the RAF and the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), which led to the conclusion that exploring smaller and less expensive admission capabilities would be more effective and less costly for LANCA. DSTL is the technical authority for the project of the Ministry of Defense.
LANCA was finally launched in 2015 to finally launch a “loyal wingman” that could operate alongside current fighter aircraft such as the Typhoon and F-35B, and has since become part of the Fighter Flight System. Three bidders have submitted bids for the development of a mosquito technology demonstrator, and in January 2021 a group of Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Bombardier Belfast), Callen-Lenz and Northrop Grumman UK were awarded a three-year contract worth 30 million. . The mosquito-powered vehicle is expected to fly by the end of 2023.
The RCO report states that the decision to stop the mosquito demonstrator will “have no bearing on the intent to create the most efficient and cost-effective combination of potential forces, or the loyal factional views in the investigation into the future Combat Air System Enterprise”. . “This project focuses on the post-2035 capacity space, where integration through the systems approach has been a key requirement from the outset.”
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