The HMS Prince of Wales is moving to include two game-changing systems in its carrier operation, changing naval combat. The lack of a catapult power is covered up by F-35 adapted for maritime use, knowing that drones as partners or singular units become reliant on changing tides.
Both the HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales are one of the most powerful ships in NATO, added the F-35s on board with stealth capability that only a few countries have.
For the drones, not much except they are target drones that are getting repurposed for other use, like loyal wingmen, but it's not verified yet. For now, the Banshee is not as sophisticated as the fighter drone of the US.
F-35s and drones on deck of HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier
Recently the British were in the midst of operations with its stealth fighters on the flight deck, and with the Banshee target drones, reported 19FortyFive.
A Twitter post by the @HMSPWLS says that having crewed aircraft and drones is an example of a joint carrier strike on the Royal Navy. The tweet posted photos on their account.
The Banshee Jet-80 drone is designed and built by the UK British multinational defense technology firm Qinetiq, derived from the thriving commercial target aircraft it made first.
Its first generation was first put into use in 2010 and underwent upgrades until 2021. Significant changes were from a single jet engine as the first iteration to today's dual-engine unmanned vehicle. Following modifications are yet to come if they are to be part of the HMS Prince of Wales.
The drone has two gas turbines with about 80kg of thrust in the current model. It can remain airborne for 45 minutes maximum. The firm says the Banshee is used for training, testing for flying targets over the sea.
HMS Prince of Wales to join Exercise Joint Warrior
The sister ship of the HMS Queen Elizabeth left Portsmouth a week ago. It's going to the Scottish Coast, where the drills are called Exercise Joint Warrior. The exercises are done every two years with the Royal Navy, including the NATO allies and units.
Participating will be the F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters and its Merlin helos, which marks the first time a 5th gen fighter will join up with rotorcraft that contrasts with its US counterpart. This summer would be the £3.1 billion aircraft carrier first sea trials, which will test the capability of the supercarrier to operate aircraft and conduct operations with its aircraft.
Banshee trials are underway with the UK military. One question is whether the drone has any connection to the Project Vixen, similar to other similar developments of robot wingmen in other countries.
One report by the Aviationist is that the program has comparisons to the Royal Air Force Project Mosquito, which is the bigger Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept to protect crewed planes from surviving in life and death conditions. Fighters like the F-35 are not cheap and too valuable to be sacrificed needlessly, so the Vixen or Banshee will be a wingman for a manned plane on the HMS Prince of Wales.
