BAE Systems Replica

Replica was a BAE Systems design study for a stealthy strike aircraft, linked to the Royal Air Force Future Offensive Air System initiative and worked on from 1994 to 1999. It was never built as a flying aircraft. The company made a full-size model, completed in 1999, and put it through a rigorous test programme to measure its radar cross section, aiming for a balance between low observability and affordability rather than the extreme stealth of aircraft such as the F-117 and B-2. Its reported cost was about 20 million pounds, funded by the Ministry of Defence and by BAE Systems itself, and it was carried out in great secrecy until its existence became public in early 2003. It is thought to have been meant to replace the Panavia Tornado from 2017. The British government chose to join the American Joint Strike Fighter programme instead, and Replica data and experience went into that effort and into later unmanned aircraft.