The UK is pressing ahead with cutting-edge defense projects, the latest including research to protect satellites from laser attack and a technology demonstrator for a jet-powered drone to operate from Royal Navy carriers.

According to Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), it is working with the UK Space Agency on ways to protect orbiting satellites with technology to spot when lasers are being used to dazzle them and disrupt communications.

Sensor technology now under development is to determine the characteristics of lasers, either in space or on the ground, and whether they pose a threat to the satellite, providing the military with information to protect and defend space systems and assets, it says.

Satellites are a quiet success story for the UK, with the industry said to be worth £18.6 billion (about $25 billion) a few years ago, but the MoD also points out that many other industries rely on orbiting space hardware for communications, weather observations, and more. The MoD claims nearly 20 percent of UK GDP depends on spaceborne services.

It claims that lasers can be used by adversaries to track the location of satellites, dazzle or blind them, or to intercept and interrupt communications. China, for example, worried by Starlink’s huge constellation of orbiting hardware, has already said that it needs the ability to counteract them, with researchers suggesting lasers or even microwave attacks.

The sensors to detect possible laser attacks are being developed by the UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency, backed by about £500,000 ($672,000) in funding.

“This joint project with UK Space Command marks an important step in developing the tools we need to detect and respond to emerging threats in space,” said the UK Space Agency’s Director of Missions and Capabilities, Harshbir Sangha.

“By investing in cutting-edge sensor technology, we’re helping to ensure that the UK remains resilient and ready in an increasingly contested space environment.”

At the same time, the MoD also issued a Request for Information (RFI) to industry for what it is calling Project VANQUISH. This seeks to deliver a technical demonstration at sea of a fixed-wing short take-off and landing autonomous collaborative platform (FW STOL ACP), or in plain English, a test drone capable of operating from the UK’s aircraft carriers.

What this signals is that the Royal Navy is looking to develop an uncrewed drone that in future will complement its squadrons of F-35B fighter aircraft and be capable of carrying out strike missions and mid-air refueling.

This could be a tricky call, as the jet-powered drone is required to be capable of launching without the use of a catapult to accelerate it to take-off speed, and landing back on the carrier without the use of an arrested recovery system – the wires that catch and decelerate aircraft on carriers such as those operated by the US Navy.

The US Navy is set to get its own autonomous refueling drone – the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray – next year.

Britain’s carriers – HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales – were designed with the F-35B in mind, which can take off and land like a Harrier, and so does not require a catapult or arrestors, but this limits the Royal Navy’s choice of other aircraft it can operate.

The Navy has already tried operating drones from its carriers, but these were prop-driven types like the General Atomics “Mojave” that are slow and best suited for roles like airborne surveillance.

It also instigated another project codenamed “Ark Royal” a couple of years ago to study whether a smaller-scale electromagnetic catapult could be fitted alongside the ski ramp that the F-35B aircraft use for take-off. This was intended for small drones.

However, it seems the Royal Navy leadership isn’t willing to wait for that to bear fruit, and is pursuing alternatives. It has also given Project VANQUISH a challenging timeline, with completion expected by the end of 2026, with “options for delivery within an 18-month window from the target date” to be considered.

At this stage, an estimated contract cost of no less than £10 million ($13.4 million) is envisaged for companies applying. Completion of the technical demonstration is expected to provide the data and evidence to inform requirements for procurement of a prospective production aircraft sometime in the 2030s. ®