Plans for UK’s next generation supersonic fighter jet equipped with ‘direct energy weapons’ under threat

PLANS for the UK’s next generation jet fighter — equipped with “directed energy weapons” — will be unveiled today.

The Tempest project may replace the RAF Typhoon in the 2030s.

PA

The UK’s next generation jet fighter – The Tempest – will be unveiled today[/caption]

SWNS

A CGI mock-up of the high-tech jet[/caption]

It will be revealed at Farnborough International Airshow, but is threatened by a government spending review.

Tempest will have a larger wingspan and be equipped with “directed energy weapons” like lasers or radio wave guns capable of knocking out drones.

Set to cost £10billion over the next decade – the jet is reportedly now at risk after the new Labour government announced a review of UK defence spending.

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard would not guarantee that GCAP would continue to fund the programme.

He told a conference last week that the new fighter scheme was “really important”.

Pollard added: “It is not right for me to prejudge what might happen in the defence review.”

It came as the Army unveiled brand new battlefield tech, including a smart watch that can be used to control a drone.

The wearable kit has been tested by soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment – part of a trial overseen by the MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

PA

Tempest will have a larger wingspan and be equipped with ‘directed energy weapons’[/caption]