Defence giant BAE Systems could be building "off-the-shelf" unmanned aircraft within years, according to the man leading its innovation.
Andy Wilson, the company's business development director for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), said the firm was going through "a major shift in philosophy" to enable it to supply air forces across the world with products on demand.
That will mean wor
kers at the company's base in Warton, near Preston, which is leading the development of the aircraft, will be expected to step up production to ensure they can meet demands within weeks rather than years.
It has already sent pilotless plane HERTI out to Afghanistan with the RAF and hopes to be able send other UAVs on similar missions.
Mr Wilson said: "Our whole drive will be towards ensuring we have aircraft available to deploy when operational need arises for the customer.
"Therefore rather than being in a position where we are now to talk to customers and come back in a few years with a product, our response will be almost instant.
"And it is our hope that these 'off-the-shelf' UAVs will be something to develop sooner rather than later."
The firm is displaying its latest range of unmanned aircraft at this week's Farnborough International Air Show.
These include the latest version of HERTI, large surveillance plane Mantis and Hero, a briefcase-sized buggy which can check under lorries for illegal immigrants.
Mr Wilson said staff at Warton would be working on a prototype.
He said: "There will be a lot of focus on Mantis and we hope to see a huge drive to see that come from a concept into a flying vehicle in a matter of months rather than years."
The company is also in talks with countries across the world about possible export sales, but Mr Wilson said that it hoped the successful operation of UAVs by the UK MoD would be "an excellent shop window" for the products.
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