Tempest will be a 'system of systems' with a manned (or optionally manned) fighter aircraft at its heart - the final design, however, may differ substantially from the configuration featured in BAE Systems’ marketing effort
If realised, the Tempest will transform the RAF into a sixth-generation force, but a number of challenges doubtless lie ahead

This Tempest configuration appears futuristic and ‘stealthy’, and that’s probably why it was chosen to form the basis of full-scale models and press imagery. It looks as you’d expect a midcentury sixth-generation fighter to look - twin-finned, tailless, delta winged. However, the real thing could turn out very differently

This view of the Tempest configuration shows to advantage some of the LO characteristics that will feature on whatever configuration is eventually chosen

A BAE Systems computer-generated concept of the Team Tempest Future Combat Air System. The aircraft is shown launching 'swarming' mini-UAVs.
The core Tempest aircraft will be augmented by a host of adjuncts and effectors, including UAVs of various shapes and sizes, among them 'loyal wingmen' and attritable swarming drones