Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:45:07 +0100

Warton, United Kingdom; A prototype unmanned combat aircraft of the future, Taranis, has been unveiled by the UK Ministry of Defence for the first time today.

Named after the Celtic god of thunder, the concept demonstrator will test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even in another continent.Should such systems enter into service, they will at all times be under the control of highly trained military crews on the ground.Speaking at the unveiling ceremony at BAE Systems in Warton, Lancashire, Minister for International Security Strategy Gerald Howarth said: “Taranis is a truly trailblazing project. The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills and is a leading programme on the global stage.”Representing the pinnacle of UK engineering and aeronautical design, Taranis is an informal partnership of the UK MoD and industry talents including BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, QinetiQ and GE Aviation.Speaking on behalf of the industry team, Nigel Whitehead, Group managing director of BAE Systems' Programmes & Support business, said: "Taranis has been three and a half years in the making and is the product of more than a million man-hours. It represents a significant step forward in this country's fast-jet capability. This technology is key to sustaining a strong industrial base and to maintain the UK's leading position as a centre for engineering excellence and innovation."The Taranis prototype will provide the UK MoD with critical knowledge on the technical and manufacturing challenges and the potential capabilities of Unmanned Combat Air Systems.Flight trials are due in 2011.

For further information, please contact:

Sqn Ldr Bruno Wood at UK Ministry of Defence Press Office Tel: +44 (0) 207 218 1534, Mob: +4 (0) 7919 305864Tim Foreman at the DE&S Press OfficeMob: +44 (0) 7990 506591Adam Morrison, BAE SystemsTel: + 44 (0)1772 852714 Mob: + 44 (0)7525 390393Email: adam.morrison@baesystems.comLeonie Foster, BAE Systems plcTel: +44 (0) 1252 383777 Mob: +44 (0) 7540 630168Email: leonie.foster@baesystems.com

Issued by:

BAE Systems, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 6YU, UKTel: +44 (0) 1252 384719 Fax: +44 (0) 1252 38394724hr media hotline: + 44 (0) 7801 717739www.baesystems.com

 

The angular ziggurat stretches across the atrium in the form of two slender footbridges leading obliquely to the lab block at the front. But the real eye-catcher here is the assemblage of open steel trusses holding up the roof directly above it. None of your sleek, architect-honed modern structures here. This is the raw, functional engineering of the pre-war hangar – an intricate 3D web of solid beams, open-web beams and slender ties. The whizzy geometry is prominently displayed by large northlights newly inserted into the original sawtooth roof. And its paint finish in fizzy lime-green accentuates the effect.

Over on the other side of the atrium, the laboratory extension is conventionally rectilinear. Fortunately, it is lifted by the key technical feature of any laboratory, the supply of specialist and often noxious gases and liquids, and the air-conditioning they require. These have been ingeniously deployed to architectural as well as practical effect.

Rather than being lost on the roof, the chillers and other services plant are stacked up one side of the extension. From here, all the supply pipes and ducts run horizontally along the wall of the atrium before feeding through it into the labs. But on their way through, the pipes and ducts are housed in a wide services corridor so that they can be maintained and replaced without disrupting the research going on inside the labs. What’s more, the external services stack and the internal services corridors have been clad in perforated aluminium panels, which offer veiled views of their services contents as well as presenting a stylish polka-dotted surface in themselves.

The services pipes and ducts drop down from the ceiling in attractive risers with curved ends and a shiny lime-green finish

Inside the two laboratory floors, the services pipes and ducts drop down from the ceiling to the lab benches in attractive risers with curved ends and a shiny lime-green finish. Looking high tech, these services risers are made of nothing more sophisticated than lacquered mdf panels that can be simply unclipped for access.

Finally, the ground floor of both the ziggurat and the new extension are devoted to general teaching spaces accessible to all university departments. These include a raked 200-seat auditorium tucked beneath the offices at the back, where the heightened headroom was achieved by excavating 1.5m into the ground below.

Perhaps the only out-of-place element in the whole conversion concerns the break-out terraces to the offices. On either side, the hangar’s perimeter windows have been replaced, but in obscure Reglit panels to match the originals retained in the rest of the hangar. As a result, the offices and terraces, although pleasantly bathed in daylight through the rooflights, have been needlessly deprived of external views.

Aside from that, what was once a dumb warehouse for aircraft now throbs as a hothouse of intellectual activity, and Sheppard Robson has given this radical £11m transformation all the imagination and flair it calls for. A transformation that offers students and staff a rare splash of excitement – and gives Foster + Partners’ library a suitable neighbour.