MAGMA flight tests ?

[zero_gravity]

https://www.baesystems.com/en/article/f ... ght-trials

The article suggests that the initial flight test has been carried out , presumably over the Irish sea ?

ZG

[POL]

Or Australia I suppose?

[zero_gravity]

As with Taranis ?

Yes I wondered about that but I get the impression this is a small demonstrator rather than full size job.
Twenty years ago they flew these things like large RC models across the Lancashire moors and in the Irish Sea initially.

[Vapours]

The earlier Demon FLAVIIR flapless design was tested from Walney and West Freugh according to https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/case-studie ... es/flaviir. I thought the only place unmanned systems could easily operate in the UK was west Wales, somewhere around Aberporth.

[zero_gravity]

Hi Vapours

The Irish Sea Delta areas and West Freugh have long been associated with "black triangle" sightings.
There was a frenzy of activity up there in the late 1990s with some ill informed folk claiming it to be a secret UFO base
There are recorded conversations between what were thought to be Tornado a/c , callsign "Savage" and AWACS in the area referring to the "package"
together with many sightings of small black triangular shaped aircraft some of which were seen in company with fast jets.

I suspect West Freugh is still used for such tests from time to time.

Somewhere in the BBC archives is a local North West TV programme which actually showed footage of BAe staff flying the radio controlled
a/c off the Lancashire hills , so tests are/were not , restricted to the likes of Aberporth.

When the first microwave real time video downlinks started to appear in the early 1990s it was thought that these might be coming from test drones. However as time passed and the videos were examined , it became apparent that the HUD used was that associated with Hawk and Tornado demonstrators and possibly the Eurofighter as it was then known.



All interesting stuff