Rheinmetall BAE Programs Land (RBSL) is main a consortium of UK firms – Prodrive, ARKE, Assume!Artistic, Cranfield College and BAE Programs – to discover ideas for a brand new, cost-effective and highly-capable Unmanned Floor Car (UGV) for the British Military. The crew’s major objective has been to allow the event of a extra sturdy, agile and environment friendly platform that may function at excessive tempo and throughout the choice cycle of opposing forces. The automobile must also embody an amphibious functionality that enhances its mobility and effectiveness throughout a variety of terrains. The UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence, Science and Know-how Laboratory (Dstl) initiated the examine to discover new approaches to UGVs as a part of its wider Mounted Fight Programs analysis mission. The RBSL-led consortium, along with Dstl, are engaged on idea growth, evaluation and expertise danger discount.
Dr Marcus Potter, RBSL Head of Mobility, stated: “Not solely will this examine ship thrilling outcomes for UGV growth, it additionally gives a possibility to develop new applied sciences for UK defence. RBSL is proud to be main the consortium on this work and exercising our vital capabilities in mobility and survivability.”
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Matt Ackroyd, Dstl Undertaking Supervisor for the examine, stated:“In an effort to meet demanding and conflicting necessities, novel modular ideas have been developed which might enable platforms to be configured in theatre to fulfill particular mission necessities. We’re thrilled to be working with RBSL and the broader consortium to discover new methods to fulfill these necessities and allow the spectrum of operations that UGV should ship.”
The examine additionally goals to display how UGV capabilities will be built-in with different crewed platforms in manoeuvre warfare, offering an perception into what the British Military’s future drive might appear to be. The programme is sustaining highly-skilled roles throughout the consortium and creating potential export alternatives for the UK. Additionally it is offering alternatives to make use of new applied sciences to combine into UK defence capabilities, resulting in vital operational benefit. RBSL and its companions are creating options in two phases, the primary utilizing at the moment accessible or mature applied sciences, and the second utilizing applied sciences which are prone to be accessible in 10+ years. The consortium is specializing in medium-weight platforms (c. 2-5 tonnes), which ensures the UGVs can carry a variety of crucial payloads for re-supply, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, weapons platforms, decoys and communication.
The following step for the programme is an analysis part the place the ideas shall be bench-marked towards present UGVs. The crew will then launch an experiment to check the ideas’ operational capabilities in an artificial surroundings noting that, the place weapon techniques are concerned, targets are by no means engaged autonomously; there may be at all times a human within the loop. This examine is the newest in a collection of UK UGV programmes that RBSL and its father or mother firm, Rheinmetall, have supported. Rheinmetall has provided a complete of eight Mission Grasp UGVs, together with cargo and hearth assist variants, to the British Military below the Robotic Platoon Car (RPV) programme. The RPV programme is an extra alternative to check how unmanned automobiles can increase the firepower and capabilities of dismounted fight troops at platoon degree which can additional assist Dstl’s analysis.
