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→Design and development: Info on the jet-powered variant: Banshee Jet 80+
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Later models used [[Norton Motors|Norton]] P73 wankel engines<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201940.html |title=air miles {{!}} air force {{!}} british airways {{!}} 1988 {{!}} 1940 {{!}} Flight Archive |website=www.flightglobal.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106002542/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201940.html |archive-date=2012-11-06}} </ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201779.html ''UK funding for rotary engine'' in pdfarchive at flightglobal.com]</ref> |
Later models used [[Norton Motors|Norton]] P73 wankel engines<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201940.html |title=air miles {{!}} air force {{!}} british airways {{!}} 1988 {{!}} 1940 {{!}} Flight Archive |website=www.flightglobal.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106002542/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201940.html |archive-date=2012-11-06}} </ref><ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1988/1988%20-%201779.html ''UK funding for rotary engine'' in pdfarchive at flightglobal.com]</ref> |
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In September 2021 the British Royal Navy trialled a jet-powered variant called ''Banshee Jet 80+'', an improved version of the earlier ''Banshee Jet 80''. The improved version has a maximum endurance of 45 minutes, a maximum airspeed of {{cvt|200|m/s|km/h}}, an operating range in excess of 100 km and altitude range from 5 m to 9144 m.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.twz.com/42587/a-british-aircraft-carrier-has-launched-jet-drones-for-the-first-time |website= twz.com |title= Royal Navy Is Experimenting With Launching Jet-Powered Drones From Its New Carriers |first= Thomas |last= Newdick |date= 2021-10-01 |access-date= 2024-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/banshee-jet-80-aerial-target-drone-uk/ |website= naval-technology.com |title= Banshee Jet 80+ Aerial Target Drone, UK | date= 2021-11-10 |access-date= 2024-04-07}}</ref> |
In September 2021 the British [[Royal Navy]] trialled a jet-powered variant called ''Banshee Jet 80+'', an improved version of the earlier ''Banshee Jet 80''. The improved version has a maximum endurance of 45 minutes, a maximum airspeed of {{cvt|200|m/s|km/h}}, an operating range in excess of 100 km and altitude range from 5 m to 9144 m.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.twz.com/42587/a-british-aircraft-carrier-has-launched-jet-drones-for-the-first-time |website= twz.com |title= Royal Navy Is Experimenting With Launching Jet-Powered Drones From Its New Carriers |first= Thomas |last= Newdick |date= 2021-10-01 |access-date= 2024-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.naval-technology.com/projects/banshee-jet-80-aerial-target-drone-uk/ |website= naval-technology.com |title= Banshee Jet 80+ Aerial Target Drone, UK | date= 2021-11-10 |access-date= 2024-04-07}}</ref> |
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==Operational history== |
==Operational history== |
||
| BTT3 Banshee | |
|---|---|
| |
| A Banshee onboard HMS Prince of Wales | |
| Role | Target Drone
Type of aircraft
|
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Meggitt Defence Systems |
| First flight | 1983 |
| Introduction | 1984 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary user | Worldwide |
| Number built | Over 8000[1] |
| Developed into | SAGEM Crecerelle |
The BTT3 Banshee, formerly the Target Technology Banshee & Meggitt Banshee, is a British target drone developed in the 1980s for air defence systems training.
The Banshee was developed by Target Technology Ltd.[2] The company had been specialising in lightweight engines for drones and had developed its own design in 1983.[3]
Banshee is built mostly out of composite material (Kevlar and glass-reinforced plastic) with a tailless delta wing planform. The first models used a 26 hp 342 cc Normalair-Garrett two-cylinder two-stroke driving a pusher propeller. Performance was 35 to 185 knots (65 to 343 km/h; 40 to 213 mph) with an endurance from one to three hours. Flight control is by two elevons.
Later models used Norton P73 wankel engines[4][5]
In September 2021 the British Royal Navy trialled a jet-powered variant called Banshee Jet 80+, an improved version of the earlier Banshee Jet 80. The improved version has a maximum endurance of 45 minutes, a maximum airspeed of 200 m/s (720 km/h), an operating range in excess of 100 km and altitude range from 5 m to 9144 m.[6][7]
Banshee entered service with the British Army in the mid-1980s as an aerial target for the Short Blowpipe and Javelin shoulder-launched missiles.[8]
Banshee has been deployed in over 40 Countries.[9] It has been tested against Blowpipe, Chaparral, Crotale, Javelin, Phalanx, Rapier, Hisar (including Hisar O+ and Siper), Sea Sparrow, QRSAM, Akash SAM (including Akash-NG) and Barak 8 SAM systems.[10]
In May 2023, the UK reportedly supplied Ukraine with Banshees which had been modified as kamikaze drones.[11] The remains of a Banshee were discovered, equipped with a 7 kg warhead, by Russians in Donetsk in February 2024.[12][13] The drone is either a Meggitt Banshee drone or a copy of one. Jet powered, it has a 7 kg explosive warhead and a range of 100 kilometres or 62 miles.[14]
Brunei Darussalam
Brazil
Denmark Operated by the Inter Service Drone Section
Egypt
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Italy
India
Norway
Oman
Turkey
United Kingdom
Ukraine
Data from Meggitt
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
