General Atomics showcased its vision of a future unmanned carrier air wing for the UK Royal Navy's two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers at the Farnborough 2024. (General Atomics via Janes/Gareth Jennings)
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) is touting its future unmanned air wing for the Royal Navy's (RN's) Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, showcasing concept imagery at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024 running from 22 to 26 July.
The large-scale imagery dominating GA-ASI's stand at the biennial event showed one of the RN's two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers operating a selection of the US company's portfolio of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The UAVs seen aboard HMS Prince of Wales (R09) comprise the jet-powered Gambit, as well as the turboprop-powered MQ-9B Mojave and MQ-9B Protector RG1. These UAVs are shown alongside a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning, highlighting the manned/unmanned mix that is likely to populate these RN ships over the more than 50 years of their projected service lives.
First revealed in March 2022, the Gambit is billed by GA-ASI as “an advanced concept aircraft”, utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to complete a variety of tasks without being prompted by an operator. Tasked as a ‘loyal wingman', a swarm of Gambits could operate alongside the ship's F-35s, providing offboard sensor and weapons capabilities and adding increased mass to the air wing. Gambit was developed for the US Air Force (USAF) Off-Boarding Sensing Station (OBSS) programme, and would need to be adapted for carrier operations with (presumably) strengthened landing gear, a catapult launch bar and arrestor hook, and measures to prevent salt corrosion.
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