British shell out seed funding for ‘loyal wingman’ combat drone January 25
Computer-generated image of the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept flying alongside an F-35B. (British MOD image) LONDON A British initiative to develop an unmanned air vehicle known as a “loyal wingman” has received a boost with the announcement by the Ministry of Defence that a Spirit AeroSystems-led consortium is to build a full-scale test vehicle. The Belfast, Northern Ireland-based arm of Spirit and partners, including Northrop Grumman UK, have been awarded a £30 million (U.S. $41 million) deal to lead a partnership, known as Team Mosquito, for building the demonstrator vehicle in time to start a test flight program by the end of 2023.