UK launches ACP Tranche 2 ‘loyal wingman' effort

The UK is looking to field a stealthy unmanned ACP ‘loyal wingman' similar in scope to the Anduril Fury (pictured) that can operate alongside fourth, fifth, and future generations of combat aircraft and to operate from the UK aircraft carriers. (Janes/Sam Wise)

The United Kingdom has formally launched its effort to field an unmanned ‘loyal wingman' adjunct to its manned combat aircraft, with a request for information posted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 29 July.

With its Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) Tranche 2 Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN), the MoD seeks to capture information and insights into the current and future ACP industrial landscape for a specific set of systems.

“In June, the MoD published the Strategic Defence Review, which recommended ‘the [Royal Air Force] RAF must stay at the leading-edge of combat air's evolution, through the transition from exclusively crewed combat air platforms to a Future Combat Air System (FCAS) with a mix of crewed, uncrewed, and increasingly autonomous platforms', and that ‘to assure the future of UK combat air, investment in ACPs should be considered alongside investment in FCAS and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP). The ACPs must be designed to operate in collaboration with the fourth, fifth, and future generations of combat aircraft and to operate from the UK aircraft carriers',” the PMEN said.

According to the notification, the MoD is looking to understand four specific system capabilities for ACPs – the official nomenclature for ‘loyal wingman' in UK defence jargon (known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft [CCA] in the US). These comprise electromagnetic/electronic warfare (EW) payloads and effects, stealth air vehicles, one-way attack (OWA) air vehicles, and autonomous air vehicles.