Future Offensive Air System

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BAE SYSTEMS FOAS Concept

The Future Offensive Air System was a study which sought to replace the Royal Air Force's strike capability currently provided by the Tornado GR4. Initial operation capability was expected around 2017. The FOAS was cancelled in June 2005.^[1]

1 History
2 Options
3 Contractors
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

It seems likely that the United Kingdom would seek to procure such a system in collaboration with another nation. During the FOAS project the UK collaborated with France.

However in March 2005 the UK joined the United States' Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System programme.^[2] In December 2005 the UK government published its Defense Industrial Strategy, a part of which was the announcement of increased funding for UCAV technology de-risking and development and the funding for a UCAV Technology Demonstrator Program.^[3] The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review stated that the J-UCAS program would be terminated.^[4]

[edit] Options

The capability required may have been provided by any number of systems;

New build aircraft, for instance the BAE HALO or BAE Replica demonstrator (see image)
Development of current aircraft – For example a variant of the Eurofighter Typhoon or the F-35 Lightning II..
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
Standoff missiles (Storm Shadow)
- From next generation strike aircraft
- Possibly from large, cheap non-penetrating aircraft (Airbus A400M)
Mix of above systems

[edit] Contractors

Two industry teams were competing for the contract, one led by BAE Systems and the other by LogicaCMG.

BAE Systems team
- Alenia Marconi Systems
- Lockheed Martin
- Northrop Grumman
- MBDA
- EADS Astrium
- Royal Military College of Science
LogicaCMG team
- Raytheon
- QinetiQ
- EADS

[edit] References

^ FOAS (Future Offensive Air System), United Kingdom. Air Force Technology. SPG Media Limited (2005). Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
^ "London Puts Foot in J-UCAS Camp", Aviation Week & Space Technology, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2005-03-21, p. 20. Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
^ Butterworth-Hayes, Philip. "U.K. changes military acquisition strategy", Aerospace America, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., October 2006, p. 4. Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
^ Sherman, Jason. "Pentagon Sets Plan For New Bomber, Terminates J-UCAS Program", Inside The Air Force, 2006-01-13. Retrieved on 2006-12-04.