QinetiQ Banshee. The Banshee, formerly the Target Technology Banshee or BTT3 Banshee, then Meggitt Banshee, is a series of British target drones developed from the 1980s for air defence system training. In December 2016, Meggitt's target drone subsidiary, Meggitt Target Systems, was sold to QinetiQ for £57.5 million and versions of the drone are now simply named after "Banshee". The most recent common version is the 2021 Banshee Jet 80+.

Design and development

Propeller versions

The Banshee was originally developed by Target Technology Ltd. The company had been specialising in lightweight engines for drones and had developed its own design in 1983.

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  with an endurance from one to three hours. Flight control is by two elevons.

Later models used Norton P73 wankel engines. Some versions of the Banshee can be used for reconnaissance.

The Banshee Whirlwind is a currently marketed remotely piloted version using a 40 kg thrust rotary engine, with a typical mission endurance of 90 minutes and a parachute for recovery.

Jet versions

A single jet engine version with 40 kg of thrust was developed and entered service in 2010, later named the Banshee Jet 40. It was improved into the Banshee Jet 40+, which is still marketed in 2024.

A faster twin-jet engine version called the Banshee Jet 80 entered service in 2014, with a forward and side-looking infrared source in the nose to create, alongside the jet engines, a realistic rearward infrared target. It has a maximum airspeed of , and with an auxiliary fuel tank it has an endurance of over 45 minutes.

In September 2021 the British Royal Navy trialled an improved variant called the Banshee Jet 80+. This version has a typical endurance in excess of 45 minutes, a maximum airspeed of , an operating range in excess of 100 km and altitude range of . Target characteristics can be changed by using plug-in modules.

As of 2019, QinetiQ was developing the Banshee Next Generation (NG).

From 2022 to 2024 the US Department of Defense and QinetiQ were developing the Rattler Supersonic Target MkI, conducted the first test flights at White Sands Missile Range High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) in March 2024. The Rattler ST is carried aloft by a Banshee Jet 80+, and emulate a variety of advanced missile threats at speeds up to Mach 2.6.

Operational history
Banshee entered service with the British Army in the mid-1980s as an aerial target for the Short Blowpipe and Javelin shoulder-launched missiles.

Banshee has been deployed in over 40 countries. Early versions were 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.

In 2023, the US Army Threat Systems Management Office (TSMO) purchased a specialised version of its Banshee Jet 80+ known as the MQM-185B, compatible with its Army Ground Aerial Target Control System (AGATCS).

In April 2024, QinetiQ collaborated with the UK Ministry of Defence to demonstrate the UK's first teaming between a crewed aircraft and an autonomous drone. The drone used in the trials was a Banshee Jet 80 which was controlled by the crewed aircraft to conduct a mission assignment.

Russo-Ukrainian War
In May 2023, the UK reportedly supplied Ukraine with Banshees which had been modified as kamikaze drones. The remains of a Banshee were discovered, equipped with a 7 kg warhead, by Russians in Donetsk in February 2024. 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 .

In 2024, Ukrainian media reported that the British government had decided in May 2023 to give strike-adapted Banshee Jet 80+ drones to Ukraine, with a one-way range of up to .

Operators
 

 Operated by the Inter Service Drone Section

Variants
Banshee 300 - (1988)
Banshee 400 - Reconnaissance (2001)
Banshee 500 - First model to include all epoxy based composite construction
Banshee 600 - Evolution of the 500 variant
Banshee Whirlwind - Rotary engine

Banshee Jet 40 - Single turbine (2010)
Banshee Jet 40+ - Single turbine
Banshee Jet 80 - Twin turbine (2014)
Banshee Jet 80+ - Twin turbine (2021)

Specifications Meggitt BTT-3 Banshee

On Display 

 Serial 1364 - Science Museum, London
 Serial 3088 - City of Norwich Aviation Museum

References

Banshee
Qinetiq aircraft
1980s British special-purpose aircraft
Target drones of the United Kingdom
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Wankel-engined aircraft
Tailless delta-wing aircraft