Forget radar sweeps and gut instincts — algorithms that think at Mach speed will win the next battle in the sky.
At a simulator deep inside BAE Systems’ Warton facility, engineers are testing a cutting-edge AI system called Rattlesnaq, developed by Swedish defense tech firm Avioniq.
Designed to map invisible missile threats in real time, the software doesn’t just alert pilots — it draws a live, dynamic picture of danger, pinpointing where enemy missiles can strike and where it’s still safe to fly.
By combining advanced missile modelling with Verifiable AI, Rattlesnaq delivers on-the-edge situational awareness and decision support, defining quantifiable threat boundaries in the beyond-visual-range (BVR) battlespace.
Thinking faster than fear
The system visually presents optimal manoeuvres to evade both air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, while also offering real-time firing solutions, enhancing a fighter’s lethality, survivability, and overall mission success.
Now being trialled with Eurofighter Typhoon crews, this AI doesn’t just aid pilots — it transforms them into sharper, faster, more adaptive warfighters for tomorrow’s skies.
BAE Systems’ Head of Typhoon Strategy, Paul Smith, a former Royal Air Force Typhoon pilot, said the technology had the potential to revolutionize pilots’ training and tactics.
“Being able to make quick, accurate decisions is crucial when operating an aircraft like Typhoon, and that means situational awareness is critical.
“In the future battlespace, when threats are constantly changing, you need live on-the-edge situational awareness to enable pilots to operate effectively in even the most contested environments.”
The new technologies under trial include a next-gen mission computer that can process data 200 times faster, along with a Large Area Display for the Typhoon’s future cockpit — designed to give pilots a sweeping, high-density view of both target and threat environments in real time.
Former Swedish Air Force pilot Mikael Grev, co-founder and CEO of Avioniq, said Rattlesnaq operated using verifiable AI, ensuring all the information given to pilots can be independently verified.
“The combination of advanced modelling and Verifiable AI delivers real-time, edge-based threat assessments directly to the aircraft.”
“This means a single aircraft can deliver greater force-multiplying effect, defeating a wider range of threats more efficiently, increasing survivability and also supporting operations alongside uncrewed aircraft,” he said in a release.
Wingmen without a pulse
Engineers from Avioniq and BAE Systems are now working together to integrate the capability onto Typhoon, which has included a number of technical demonstrations on the Typhoon simulator.
That force-multiplying effect becomes even more critical in Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) scenarios, where manned jets fly alongside autonomous drones such as Loyal Wingman platforms. Rattlesnaq’s onboard data processing allows it to calculate and transmit threat information not just to the lead pilot but also directly to each drone’s autonomous flight system.
This enables every aircraft in the formation to adapt in real time, avoiding threats, maintaining proximity to targets, and reacting optimally to changes in the battlespace — all without adding to the cognitive burden of the human pilot.
Trials with 4th and 5th generation NATO air fleets have already demonstrated Rattlesnaq’s ability to enhance survivability and coordination in these high-stakes, manned-unmanned environments.
