GKN completes wings for Brontanax prototype

Flight-ready structures for the UK's first Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototype have progressed from a clean-sheet design to full integration within an accelerated timeline.

GKN Aerospace has completed the engineering, manufacture and full prototype integration of flight-ready wings, fins and control surfaces for Brontanax, the UK's first Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) prototype.

BAE Systems drew on GKN Aerospace's composite manufacturing and assembly capabilities to progress the aircraft from a clean-sheet design to flight-ready hardware within an accelerated timeline. Delivery of the components required an agile approach to product development and supply chain management, spanning world-class composite manufacture, novel tooling design and complex product assembly. The structures were built at GKN Aerospace's composite design and assembly facility at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, drawing on the company's wider connected network of sites to compress the delivery timescale.

Rupert Dix, SVP Defence, GKN Aerospace, says: “This is the latest example of GKN Aerospace's ability to turn complex, clean-sheet designs into flight-ready reality at an unprecedented pace. By combining our advanced engineering with cutting-edge manufacturing, we are actively shaping the future of next-generation combat air power for the UK and our global allies.”

The programme reinforces GKN Aerospace's track record for rapid delivery of novel, airworthy prototypes alongside its established commercial production work, and underlines the company's sovereign industrial capabilities in support of the UK defence sector and its wider global customer base.