BAE Systems concepting Eurofighter control of CCAs for LTE

BAE Systems' Eurofighter Test Laboratory in Warton, where concepting work for the future control of CCAs is now being undertaken. (BAE Systems)

BAE Systems is concepting the control of unmanned collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) by Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft as part of a wider drive to rollout new capabilities for the jet under the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) effort.

Speaking to Janes and other defence media during a visit to the company's Eurofighter Test Laboratory in Warton, programme officials outlined the work now ongoing in the field of crewed-uncrewed teaming (CUC-T)/ manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T).

“With the size and scale of the potential threats that our [Eurofighter] customers could be facing into the future, we are asking, ‘How do we build combat mass?' Many of our customers are looking towards CCAs, but how do we get platforms such as Typhoon, or into the future GCAP [Global Combat Air Programme] integrated with those CCAs?”, Chris Moon, Typhoon Future Capability Delivery Director said on 18 June 2026. He added that work to integrate CUC-T/MUM-T capabilities onto the Eurofighter had been accelerated over the previous 12 months.

Demonstrating some of the CCA concepting work done to date was Andrew ‘Blyty' Mallery-Blythe, Typhoon Operational Requirements Manager and test pilot at BAE Systems. For the demonstration, he flew the Eurofighter simulator equipped with the large area display (LAD) cockpit that is intended to replace the aircraft's current three-multifunction display (MFD) configuration with a single unit. With the combination of this LAD, the Leonardo European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk 2, and Striker II helmet-mounted display system, Mallery-Blythe showed how CUC-T/MUM-T control of representative CCAs would work in an operational scenario.