According to information available, primary research and development is being carried out in a British Aerospace facility located at Warton, on the Ribble estuary, a few miles from the Lancashire coast and Morecombe Bay. Speculation about this 'black' project arose after reference was made to it in an unclassified government budget document which came to light several years ago. Early in 1996 BAe acknowledged for the first time that the HALO research study did in fact exist and said it was working on these concepts for a future aircraft. Concepts which relate directly to the RAF's Future Offensive Air System [FOAS] whereby a third-generation aircraft is designed to enter service sometime around 2013. Warton is a likely candidate for such classified work and heavy investment was undertaken beginning in the late 80s jointly by BAe/MoD in substantially upgrading this essentially military aircraft divisional site. The bulk of work was achieved by 1994, and includes a highly secure, special projects complex constructed on the south side of the manufacturing plant.
It's here, in and around the main hanger, that work on HALO is thought to be conducted under the strictest of security, and where workers who have undergone rigorous screening procedures carry out their appointed tasks under a battery of video cameras. The Warton site is comprehensive and includes a low-speed wind tunnel, engine hush-house, flight-test unit, electronic warfare and electromagnetic test facilities, a radar cross section range rivalling the best in the world, plus it even boasts installed steerable shielding to deter satellite surveillance. BAe is used to operating at a high level of security anyway and this extends to all its Royal Ordinance factories and ranges which it acquired some time ago.
The HALO airframe specification is thought by some to be not that dissimilar to the cancelled McDonnell Douglas A-12 stealth bomber intended for the U.S. Navy. It's silhouette is essentially a triangular configuration, perhaps not much larger than the current RAF Tornado GR4 which some suggest it is planned to succeed. Stealth streamlining will be achieved by carrying bombs, chaff, electronic warfare pods, and missiles in the aircraft's belly, while the entire craft is certain to be coated in radar absorbent material; the latter derived initially from pioneering development by Germany in WWII which the UK retrieved and advanced upon, before passing all this stealth technology information to the U.S. [see Britain's Stealth Connection ]. It will doubtless be equipped with an ability to fly supersonic and possibly hypersonic, while rotating thrust nozzles would ensure improved low speed manoevering and a hover capability.
In the meantime the Eurofighter 2000 might yet fill a slot in respect of Britain's ageing Tornado when it enters service in 2002; certainly as Europe's most expensive plane ever at £37 million apiece. German defense experts have claimed that the Eurofighter's software is so badly designed that it needs a complete overhaul. This might lead to a three year delay in the project. Meanwhile, British Aerospace could conceivably become more actively involved with Lockheed Martin in the development of a Joint Strike Fighter, a proposed land-and carrier-based, single seat, stealthy attack aircraft. As a STOVL fighter/bomber, it would be an ideal replacement for the Royal Navy's Sea Harriers. Paul W Martin, executive vice president for Lockheed Martin Corp. and second-in-command at the Skunk Works in Palmdale confirmed on November 12 that radar-evading "stealth" materials will be included in the aircraft. Lockheed developed its unique stealth materials while working on the predecessor of the F-117, a top-secret project code-named "Have Blue." Flight tests of the multi-role, multi-service aircraft joint strike fighter are scheduled to begin in 2000, with 2008 pencilled in as entry into service.
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Project HALO
Details remain sketchy and the vacuum is filled from time to time with rumour but if the UK is developing stealth technology, in the form of a High Agility, Low Observability [HALO] aircraft, then very little in the way of facts has emerged from a project that remains shrouded in secrecy. Even the august publication Jane's Military Aircraft has failed to penetrate the top security which surrounds this affair and into which funding estimated in excess of £100 million of British taxpayers money has already been poured.
The UKs 'Black' Budget Stealth Venture
