The Royal Air Force’s new autonomous drones, dubbed StormShroud, will be fitted with Leonardo’s cutting-edge BriteStorm electronic warfare payload, enhancing the UK’s ability to suppress and deceive enemy air defences.
The system will be integrated onto a fleet of Tekever AR3 uncrewed air systems (UAS) entering service with the RAF under the StormShroud designation. According to the RAF, the integration aims to provide UK Armed Forces with a new capability to counter increasingly sophisticated air defence systems.
The drones will fly alongside crewed aircraft as part of crucial RAF frontline missions, to knock out enemy air defences.
BriteStorm is described as a “stand-in jammer”—a compact, platform-agnostic system designed to fly ahead of high-value, crewed combat aircraft. Once deployed, it targets integrated air defence systems (IADS), aiming to degrade adversary radar tracking and targeting capabilities. The payload achieves this through high-powered digital jamming and deception techniques developed at Leonardo’s site in Luton.
Leonardo explained that the system consists of a Miniature Techniques Generator (MTG) and tailored Transmit Receive Modules (TRMs). Its lightweight, low-power design enables integration across a wide range of uncrewed platforms.
Additionally, BriteStorm supports open software architecture to allow configuration against specific threats, with operators able to update its capabilities based on mission intelligence and operational feedback.
The system is also designed with attritability in mind—while it is reusable and rapidly reprogrammable after missions, its destruction in support of higher-value assets is considered an acceptable operational outcome.
Research and development of BriteStorm began in 2017 at Leonardo’s Luton facility, a major UK hub for electronic warfare technology. The site employs over 1,200 people and invested nearly £175 million with British suppliers in 2024. Leonardo is also a key contributor to the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and Eurofighter Typhoon upgrade projects.
StormShroud was developed by the RAF Rapid Capabilities Office and the Catalyst team within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S). The system is entering service with 216 Squadron and will be operated by both regular and reserve personnel.
Leonardo and other industry partners will provide ongoing support as the capability matures.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“Investment in our defence is an investment in this country’s future. Putting money behind our Armed Forces and defence industry is safeguarding our economic and national security by putting money back in the pockets of hard-working British people and protecting them for generations to come.
Together with our allies, this government is taking the bold action needed to stand up to Putin and ruthlessly protect UK and European security, which is vital for us to deliver our Plan for Change and improve lives of working people up and down the country.
It is a privilege to meet and learn from the young minds driving innovation in defence technology, and we will continue to invest in the industries of the future to deliver security and opportunity for the British people through our Plan for Change.”
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence
“The StormShroud drone is a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind drone that will make the RAF’s world-class combat aircraft more survivable and more lethal. The drones offer a step change in capability by using a high-tech BriteStorm signal jammer to disrupt enemy radar at long ranges, protecting our aircraft and pilots. In revolutionary new tactics, the drones support aircraft like Typhoon and F35 Lightning, by confusing enemy radars and allowing combat aircraft to attack targets unseen. This means for the first time, the RAF will benefit from high-end electronic warfare without needing crew to man it, freeing them up for other vital frontline missions.
The RAF is investing an initial £19 million into the cutting-edge drones, which are made in the UK and directly support 200 highly skilled engineering jobs at multiple UK locations already from West Wales to Somerset, with further opportunities expected in future. StormShroud is just the first of a family of next-generation drones – known as Autonomous Collaborative Platforms (ACPs) – being delivered to the RAF.
The Tekever AR3 and AR5 have had extensive use on the frontline fighting Putin’s illegal war, racking up more than 10,000 hours of flight for Ukraine’s forces. The RAF is taking the next step by integrating best-in-class signal scrambling technology into the drones to boost the UK’s defences at home, as the Prime Minister steps up UK defence capabilities to counter complex threats in the face of global instability. “
About the StormShroud platform
The StormShroud platform is based on the TEKEVER AR3, a small, fixed-wing uncrewed air system (UAS) designed for tactical surveillance and adaptable mission roles. Compact and lightweight, it is capable of operating for extended periods—typically up to 16 hours—and can be launched via portable systems in austere environments.
In its StormShroud configuration, the platform has been adapted to support electronic warfare missions as part of the RAF’s drive towards autonomous collaborative operations.
BriteStorm itself is a compact, stand-in electronic warfare payload developed by Leonardo in the UK to disrupt and deceive enemy radar and air defence systems. Designed for deployment on small uncrewed aircraft or missiles, as outlined above, BriteStorm uses high-powered digital jamming and deception techniques to degrade the performance of integrated air defence networks. The system comprises a Miniature Techniques Generator (MTG) and Transmit Receive Modules (TRMs), and is platform-agnostic, allowing for integration across a range of airframes.
With a reprogrammable software architecture and support for rapid mission data updates, BriteStorm is, it is understood, intended to remain adaptable in the face of evolving threats.
Seems to be the usual press release. Vague statements but no detail around when will be in service and how many being purchased.
Probably one and FOC will be 2045. Two years later it’s replacement will be announced. 🤣
No it will be retired and a program announced that will specify a replacement to be delivered….
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The usual waffle, a lot of words that actually say very little and pose more questions than answers.
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According to RAF website, it’s has been introduced into operational service, but later says it will be operated with 216 Squadron. So best guess is, first units acquired and working-up procedures and training for the operators.
UKP19MILLION will buy lots..dozens ?… of these airframes and payloads. They are not large aircraft but have great endurance and range.
interesting concept, maybe it, if possible to get a stealth shape may b just the job for suppression of defenses ahead to if ann attack
Which station?
How many?
When?
It entered service today according to Government press release.
Guess where Starmer was today ? Leonardo UK in Bedfordshire, it was on the BBC 🤔
They need some good news stories today after the bi election result 😉
According to Wikipedia (I know…) 216 Sqn was reformed in April 2020 at RAF Waddington. However, 216 does not appear on the list of Sqn’s on the official RAF website, nor the list of Units based at RAF Waddington. It may be something as simple as the RAF not yet updating their website?
To those who think it is credible for MoD to say they can reduce procuremnt of a significant system from 6 years to 2, then they should be aware that just one part of StormShroud, the BriteStorm EW payload, has been in development since 2017.
BriteStorm wasn’t developed specifically for this project, it is also the payload for SPEAR EW. I imagine the basic architecture is fully developed, but it hasn’t been deployed yet due to a shortage of platforms (Qinetiq’s Jackdaw and Spear EW are both a few years old). AR3 is the first off the shelf platform I can recall it being proposed for.
Yes, exactly. This was the cheapest easiest uk made platform to stick it in and send off to Ukraine.
I would not be surprised if we later see it deployed in something jet powered like Jack Daw later on.
It’s been in development by Leonardo since 2017 but BriteStorm is just an upgrade on BriteCloud which is in operation with the UK, USA and others. The MOD didn’t start a program in 2017.
These EW capabilities are also in a constant upgrade phase.
Constant upgrade is normal and just means a funded platform with relentless innovation to meet the observed threats.
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At first glance, it resembles the kirby cadet glider that I first went solo in in 68! I’m sure though that it is a more advanced beast than the cadet! I hope.
Without a kerosene burning power plant, aerodynamic efficiency and long duration mean thermonuclear powered aircraft (gliders) are the state of the art.
Sadly most competition gliders are made in Germany where investment in engineering education includes undergraduate secondment to specialist manufacturers. A fertile breeding ground for engineering competence.
So when? Or is that going to be the usual mid 30s nothingness answer?
It entered service today according to government press release.
Well I’m not up to speed on Drones at all, so maybe others like Jon can enlighten me.
Having excitedly seen this as some sort of Ghost Bat, it’s more of a model aeroplane.
90km speed.
100 km comms range.
25 Kg MTOW.
How do these things fly alongside fast jets and other manned assets?
Are they dropped from a Transport Aircraft en masses? Because the blurb mentions catapult launch or a newer VTOL version.
That would then depend, would it not, on a frontline closer to targets, to launch them out in the field, cloeer to the FEBA.
Which may not exist.
How are these used in a scenario like we have with Typhoon launching from Akrotiri and flying thousands of km to Houthi targets? Where are they launched from. Not Akroriri!
Or, launch from a ship coming within 100km of an enemy coast?
and this has already existed for a long time, could’ve just ordered it from the yanks- ADM-160 MALD-J (jammer). Mach .8, 500km range, air launched, combat proven, inexpensive (relatively), mass produced…
Or the Turks? They seem to have plenty of products.
ADM.160 MALD. Right, I’d never heard of it I’ll look it up.
I must go back to the article to find any “world leading” quotes, though I see Starmer is still echoing Gordon Brown with “plans for change” while continuing to dismantle the military.
I assume the clever bit is Britecloud rather than the carrier, and I understand this at least is UK sovereign?
Correction, sorry, Britestorm.
Yes the drone is just a platform and the RAF imply it can be used for things other than carrying the Brightcloud jammer. The term StormStroud is for the drone when it’s carrying Brightcloud.
Base uav has 16 hours endurance at 85km hour. Assume concept is launch several hours ahead of main strike force and / or from fwd assets as a sacrificial one way asset in similar vain to spesrEW
BrightStorm is of course quite closely related to BrightCloud but perfected for lighter and more varied platforms and of course the US has recently ordered BrightCloud in numbers.
I’m guessing here but my first thought is that these platforms would be launched used towards the front line protecting fast jets operating behind your lines (which they do in Ukraine on both sides) allowing those jets to release their stand off ordinance more safely and potentially a little closer to contested areas. Seems like a useful capability to me and why indeed they would be operated by RAF personell not the army as they would be used very much in coordination with RAF strikes and hopefully preclude casualties Signal chats being used to coordinate between separate forces.
Ok if there is a Ukraine style front line. like in any NATO Russia confrontation.
What about elsewhere, if there is a strike against targets where no frontline to launch from exists?
That must mean a RN Ship, and we are not blessed with those.
It’s probably going to get ground launched from very close to the front lines, and then used to “clear the way” for the jets rather than actually flying alongside them. Definitely not for Akrotiri ops, much more of a european focus.
The payload is the same as for Spear EW, so very small but supposedly very capable.
This system is cheap and attritable. It’s being used and lost a lot in Ukraine. All that’s happening now is Leonardo are sticking an upgraded up powered brite cloud system into it and it will fly around an enemy air defence causing havoc.
It’s more like a reusable ground launched munition, this is exactly how we should be procuring drones. Pity it is Portuguese and Italian companies but it’s both their uk subsidiaries doing it.
Exactly. It seems to me a short ranged system that should be in the Army inventory rather than the RAF.
I wonder if MoD will be massaging next years figures including it alongside gliders in the RAFs aircraft strength..
It’s primarily a SEAD/DEAD capability which is not currently an army mission although with deep strike, PrSM it may soon be an army mission.
This can give the RAF regiment something useful to do 😀
Well the fact the Sqn has got RAF Reg in it implied for me that it’ll be a field unit.
But they link it to fast jets instead.
I think you get it Jim some here are having a problem breaking free from traditional concepts. It’s mission or at least one of them appears pretty obvious to me if one looks at events in Ukraine where jets have had to operate a long way behind the front lines in fear of being targeted.
However your point about it being a pity this is an Italian subsidiary is rather unfair, it’s pure protected UK IP from a once proud uk brand absorbed by Leonardo and no one says Boston Dynamics is a South Korean subsidiary or DeepMind a US subsidiary there is a substantial difference in a uk Company becoming part of a foreign owned group (whatever one feels about that) and a foreign owned group simply setting up a subsidiary in a foreign Country.
Given its role, speed and range it doesn’t exactly scream “Storm” anything more like “SneakyCheapyShroud”
Who thinks these names up ?
Whoever named this thing has kids who are into Alex Rider….
Hi Jim, just chipping in with my 2-penneth-worth. OK, I’m no tactician or military expert so stand to be put in my place here but the choice of configuration seems to be quite odd for the RAF IMHO. A bit like the Jackal UAV for the RAF featured on here some time ago. Wouldn’t a straight-winged UAV with model airplane-esk engines be slow and suit a forward deployed, near-front-line Army unit better? OK, 16 hours duration seems pretty decent but, to fly in support of Typhoons etc, wouldn’t a loyal-wingman concept be a better option, that has greater speed and range from a typical RAF base, like Cyprus or similar? I appreciate the Loyal Wingman the US and Aussies are developing is some way off and would be substantially more expensive but, to me, wouldn’t this fit the kind of role better for the RAF better ….. and have secondary rolls to-boot in any operation?
I think people are envisaging loyal wing men drones flying in close formation with fast jet aircraft. That’s not the case now at-least for first generation loyal wing men like CCA level 1.
What we are now looking at is cheap aerial vehicles that will be in the same airspace as manned aircraft on a mission and can be controlled by manned aircraft but they will not have the same performance as manned aircraft especially in areas like sensors, speed and stealth.
This drone will fly around near an air defence sight setting off spoof signals. It’s really hard for something like S400 to engage a very low very slow flying drone.
The manned aircraft like typhoon and F35 will be able to control it forcing the S400 battery to engage the drone or stay shut off. They will use SPEAR EW for much the same mission.
If your operating an S400 and you suddenly have dozens of things flying around sending off all sorts of signals it’s going to be very very hard to find an F35 in all that noise or a Typhoon launching a Storm Shadow or SPEAR 5.
Hi Jim, thanks for your reply. I get you’re point about low-speed UAVs and picking them up on the S400 tracking RADAR. RADAR tech has, in the past, sought to reduce ‘noise’ by rejecting or shutting out slow-moving objects but to deploy such a system, I’m envisaging you’d need to be relatively close the whatever target and, to me, that’s a job for SFs, Marines, Army, not RAF, right? So why is it the RAF that are trialing this? Perhaps because it is otherwise an RAF ‘sponsored’ operation, taking out SAM sites?
I agree, I suspect this what the easiest way to deploy the BritStorm payload on an existing platform that was kind of useful so they can train with it and help further develop the tactics until something like Jackdaw is available. It’s also probably in part because SPEAR 3 and SPEAR EW are also being delayed.
This means an F35 pilot can control something carrying the BriteStorm payload today using the I pad on leg control system they have developed without necessarily having to wait five years while LM write software to integrate it into the aircraft mission system.
In answer to DP’s comment below. Think of Britecloud as a multipurpose jammer. One of the things it can do is capture a enemy radar’s waveform, manipulate it and then retransmit it. depending on how you manipulate it, you could be sending back a doppler shift that represents an object that is many times faster than what its true local airspeed is. So the enemy radar think its a high speed contact, which the management system will flag as a threat. Thereby hoping to set off the tracking radar or get the system to bang off a missile to intercept, giving away its position. This method of of manipulation would be a way of getting around the slow speed filtering. What I’m alluding to is a very basic level of manipulation. I am pretty certain that Britecloud is significantly more capable at doing this and more.
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Yes, it is the speed that is rather odd.
It is so slow that it should be obvious on old school radar that the thing hardly moves. That is before EO is used.
Then there is the whole sitting duck issue as it will be medium altitude and an EO guided no particularly smart missiles will easily take it out and if it flies as low as I think it does a 57mm would happily do the job too at a lower cost per shot.
So I am wondering how useful this really is – OK against the Russians anything is useful as their lead based AAW is hopeless and I suspect that this is too small for their S300/400 to actually lock onto and far to expensive per shot to use precious shots to take down.
Yes this is very much a tactical system, it would seem to fit more with the army to be honest to support rotor opps. I could see this very much working with apache and Wildcat squadrons.. also with its VSTOL option and ISTAR options it would up the lethality of the army air corps significantly.
Not really seeing how it works with fast jets TBH or with the carrier.. but the VSTOL option be great off the back of a surface combats for ISTAR or supporting a wildcat attacking a surface combatant or even a surface combatant using its NSMs more effectively. I could see 2 of these paired with a wildcat.. one to act as the Eyes of the kill chain the wildcat to deliver the kinetic effect and one to keep the wildcat safe or help penetration.
Exactly this.
RAF, with Fast Jets?
I wish i could enlighten you, Daniele, but these are news to me as an RAF purchase. I can tell you that this is an Anglo-Portugese company that produces small high-duration fixed wing drones. I checked and AR3 seems to be the smallest they do. What stunned me was they claim to be able to integrate side-looking SAR, but the max payload is only 4kg. As you may recall Watchkeeper had a very pricey upgrade from the original Hermes to try and get a 30kg I-Master SAR on board. Even the picoSAR would be too much. Those may be SARs, but probably not as we know them. Anyway, BrightStorm is less than 3kg, so it’s all feasible.
You are looking at a 100km comms range to the GCS so they feel more like Army than RAF to me. I suppose they will have to be air-launched and controlled. I can’t see them having the comms to be piloted from Waddington, unless on a relay. I wonder if they are cheap enough to be one-way effectors rather than merely attritable. That would make a lot of sense.
LOL. I just thought I’d read a bit more of the thread before posting, and I see you also thought army rather than RAF.
I missed a trick. The sizes don’t go up with number, so the AR-4 in the middle is actually the smallest, and looks smaller than a hand-thrown Puma.
Thanks Jon.
I wonder if politics has played a part in declaring these RAF assets.
You are correct, the platform is lacking in performance with endurance* to properly support penetration and strike missions in a layered air defence environment; even taking into consideration electronic systems which can emit their signals at varying strength (used from a ranging perspective).
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There is reason why the US use the Growlers with Hornet strikes (and the Ravens or Prowlers before those).
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I will wait for the high performance development off-shoot from the Mosquito /Vixen projects …If anything comes of them.
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* Noting the propellor in the image, for offensive mission sets the flight specs are insufficient; for defensive purposes (e.g. of the UK coastline), This may have some limited utility. Again, (high) speed and endurance is optimal.
More details available if you Google the RAF website – I’d include a link but we all know those take months to be approved…
Afternoon all, what’s happening on this great site nowadays, still the same old people, still the same old arguments ?
😆
Who are you calling Old ? If only Lord Kitchener had these drones to sneak up on the Fuzzy Wuzzy’s ! They don’t like it up em you know.
Happy Friday 😂
The drone itself is British built and already is use in Ukarine.
This looks like a very astute bit of procurement to me and I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up buying quite a lot of AR3, AR5 and whatever the next variant is in the following years. Yet another laughably poor decision by BAE to sell off Marconi/AMS/SELEX/ units 20 years ago though, they are thriving under Leonardo and sensor/EW capability looks to be one of the biggest growth markets in defence. Everyone who complains about foreign ownership here should look at BAE’s litany of disposals and under-investment and compare it with companies like Leonardo. BAE hasn’t been able to produce a single viable drone product despite having heaps of government money thrown at it in projects like Taranis and Fireshadow.
BAE used that money from the sales and pumped it into its US business. It now controls almost all US electronic attack capability.
At a point in time when we were fighting sandy wars and couldn’t see the point of investing in a broad range of EW capabilities and buying them at volume.
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I like the name StormShroud. Kind of cool.
Given that this has a VTOL kit, I wonder if the Navy/Marines might be interested as an alternative to Puma, with the SAR rather than Britestorm.
This is what we want to see, more World leading, cutting edge, state of the art tech. Another brilliant example of the UK’s business partnerships with the Worlds leading defence companies.
“On a wing and a prayer.”
This will be the drone i see on ADSB exchange flying round mod Aberporth range .MOD Aberporth provides a controlled environment for the release of land, air and sea-launched missile firings as well as instrumentation verification, passive and active IR/RF jamming, and the ability to manage supersonic trials activity. The range has a fully-instrumented 3D area for test and evaluation. It also has space for training activities and provides both live and virtual environments, real-time data, and deployable systems. If you go on NOTAM Info you can see some day there is a danger area red circle at the range . meaning closed airspace to commercial traffic.
Indeed. A vital facility I’m well aware of.
I’d hoped places like Llanbedr further north might be resurrected from it’s DERA days into a test centre for all UAV and Drones, but they chose Pred instead.
Aberporth has its own runway, away from the main site, another bonus.
I do wonder if we might see a Britecloud equipped Qinetiq Banshee/Jackdaw? As they offer a significant step up in performance (speed of around 400mph). Perhaps equipped with a Rattler that contains a fragmentary warheads for taking out the enemy radar.
Wingspan – 3.5m
Length – 1.9m
MTOW – 25kg
Payload Capacity – 4kg
Flight Endurance –
VTOL: 8 hours/Fixed: 16 hours
Service Ceiling – 3,600 m AMSL
Comms Range – 100km
Cruise Speed – 75-90km/h
GCS – Common GCS with AR4, AR3 and AR5. Supports multiple operators and aircraft
Launch Method – VTOL or Catapult
Recovery Method – VTOL or Parachute/Net/Belly/Water
Vehicle Integration – System transport GCS
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What a giant confusing text.