BAE Systems Corax

The BAE Systems Corax, also known as Raven after the Latin word for that bird, was a prototype unmanned aerial vehicle developed by BAE Systems Military Air and Information and financed by the British Ministry of Defence. Development took place in the early to mid 2000s and the first flight is known to have been made in 2004. At least one test flight was a fully autonomous mission in which the aircraft took off and landed under computer control. The aircraft has a single shrouded jet engine mounted above the fuselage and an extended wing with no conventional tail, which made it harder to control but improved its aerodynamic performance. Its shaping led commentators to compare it with stealth aircraft, and unlike the HERTI it was intended specifically for defence use. It has reportedly been superseded by the BAE Systems Taranis combat aircraft.