BAE Systems Demon

Background

During the early 21st century, BAE Systems initiated a five-year research programme known as flapless air vehicle integrated industrial research (FLAVIIR), with a declared budget of £6.5 million financed by BAE Systems and the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The programme aimed to develop and test a new aerodynamic circulation-based aircraft flight control system, manipulating airflow via non-traditional means. Participants included various British aeronautics companies, specialists, and academic institutions including Cranfield University and nine other British universities. An American patent for elements of the control system was filed in August 2007 and granted in July 2011.

The conventional BAE Systems Eclipse UAV was selected as the basis for the demonstrator. Ahead of the flight test programme, the Demon was subjected to various ground-based tests, including the use of wind tunnels and scale models. On 17 September 2010, the Demon performed its first flight in which all of its conventional control surfaces were deactivated during a portion of the flight off the coast of Cumbria, having flown out of Barrow/Walney Island Airport. Richard Williams, BAE's programme director for future capability, stated: 'I feel sure I have witnessed a significant moment in aviation history.'