Touted to be virtually invisible to radar, it was so named after the Celtic god of thunder. It seems that the development of the Taranis, with specific mention to its automatic features, has been mentioned as “shrouded in secrecy” in a 2013 UN report. So far, the Taranis’ capabilities remain more or less unknown to the masses, which is why it has ruffled the feathers of certain ethicists.
While the Taranis has not been deployed to date, and the UK military has not drawn up plans to ensure it ends up as part of its official fleet, it currently enjoys the status of a demonstrator. A demonstrator in this instance allows it to be used to test technologies which might see action in future aircraft.
BAE claims that the Taranis is capable of “undertaking sustained surveillance, marking targets, gathering intelligence, deterring adversaries, and carrying out strikes in hostile territory,” of course, all of this will be done under the supervision of a human operator, making this a drone on steroids.