Despite being a tiny island nation in the North Atlantic, Britain has one of the largest defence budgets in the world.

Part of that budget goes towards the development of new toys for the military to play with, and the latest to be declassified is Taranis — the most advanced aircraft ever built in Britain.

The aircraft, which is an unmanned drone, is named after the Celtic god of thunder and was first unveiled in 2010. Since then, it’s undergone intense development under top secret conditions, resulting in a successful test flight in the Australian desert in August 2013.

Over the course of several hours, the drone conducted several flights at a variety of speeds and altitudes. Test pilot Bob Fraser said that it flew “twice as fast” as any other drone he’s operated, but refused to give any further details.

The low profile and tight angles of the craft betray another design principle — it’s a stealth craft, allowing it to avoid detection by radar. The Ministry of Defence said that they hoped it would eventually be able to fly faster than the speed of sound.

The list of companies involved in its contraction is long and prestigious, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation and QinetiQ, as well as the British Ministry of Defence. The prototype has so far cost the relatively low figure of £185m, but developing it into something that may eventually see combat will significantly raise that total.

BAE’s Nigel Whitehead said: “The first flight of Taranis represents a major landmark for UK aviation. The demonstrator is the most advanced air system ever conceived, designed and built in the UK.”

“It truly represents an evolution of everything that has come before it.”

Questions remain over the legal and moral status of drones. General Stanley McChrystal, the former head of Nato troops in Afghanistan, recently described “a perception of arrogance as helpless people are being shot at like thunderbolts from the sky”.

However, civilians are also beginning to find less controversial applications for the technology. Ever wanted to tour Antarctica by air? Now you can, all thanks to unmanned drones.