Role & capabilities
- Multirole aircraft
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Multirole aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- BAE Systems Australia / Innovaero
- Origin / production countries
- Australia
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Full-scale electric flight-test prototype; Intended hybrid-electric configuration: development
- Operators / programme customers
- Not confirmed in the reviewed public sources
Evidence & current status
Flight testing is documented by the developer. Hybrid performance objectives and military service have not been established by these trials.
STRIX is a BAE Systems Australia and Innovaero development programme for a runway-independent uncrewed aircraft. Its unusual tilt-body configuration is intended to support multiple military missions. The programme was introduced at Avalon in February 2023, placing it among Australia’s domestic aircraft development efforts rather than a foreign system purchased for local service.
BAE reported first flight in December 2024, describing trials conducted in late October. The test aircraft was a full-scale electric prototype. The reported demonstrations covered launch, manoeuvring, sustained hover and recovery. The company stated that the next focus would be the hybrid-electric propulsion system being developed in parallel.
That distinction is central to the profile: successful electric vertical-flight trials do not demonstrate the endurance or range of a future hybrid operational aircraft. Concept-level payload and range aspirations should therefore not be presented as completed flight-test results. The reviewed release describes continuing refinement with potential customers, not a service acceptance or production order. STRIX is consequently classified as development and trials, with the demonstrated configuration and intended later configuration recorded separately.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Tilt-body uncrewed aircraft demonstrator | Published source figure; applicability depends on the cited configuration. Source |
| Launch / recovery | Autonomous VTOL demonstrated in prototype testing | Published source figure; applicability depends on the cited configuration. Source |
| Propulsion | Electric prototype; hybrid-electric system under development | Electric trial aircraft must not be confused with the intended later hybrid configuration. Source |
| Dimensions | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Mass | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Endurance | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Range | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Speed | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Altitude | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Payload | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Sensors | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
| Communications / navigation | Not established from the reviewed public sources. | Public data gap; no estimate or neighbouring variant value substituted. Source |
Documented milestones
First flight reported
BAE described electric prototype trials conducted in late October 2024.
Read the announcementProgramme unveiled
BAE Systems Australia and Innovaero introduced STRIX at Avalon.
Read the announcement
Publication history
- — Added a sourced global catalogue profile with configuration-specific data and explicit evidence limits.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.