Two contracts collectively worth ~£5m have been awarded to
HORIBA MIRA and QinetiQ to produce a number of unmanned
ground vehicles (UGVs) and enabling autonomous systems as
part of advancing Ministry of Defence (MOD) Transformation
Fund commitments for the British Army.
Project Theseus, the development and operational field
experimentation of autonomous logistic resupply systems,
was announced by Secretary of State (SofS) for Defence,
following the progress made by the Innovative Autonomous
‘Last Mile’ Challenge led by Dstl.
The contracts form part of early de-risking work to
increase the MOD’s understanding of the capabilities and
limitations of these systems in areas such as mobility,
vulnerabilities and safety; enabling the Army to take the
project to the next stage, pending a further significant
competition for Project Theseus to be launched by DE&S
later this year.
Dstl’s Autonomy Lead, Peter Stockel said:
“These contracts are a demonstration of the continued
commitment to progressing autonomous systems as innovative
approaches for developing future Land force logistic
capability. Under the Autonomous Last Mile Challenge, we
have conducted a number of in-depth trials both in the UK
and with our partners in the US. These UGV systems will be
used to undertake a series of technical evaluations and
user utility assessments with the British Army and other
users to rapidly advance MOD’s understanding under the
‘Prototype Warfare’ agenda.”
Brigadier Darrell Amison, Head of Capability for Combat
Service Support said:
“Robotic and Autonomous Systems will provide commanders
with more options to support a Land force operating at
greater reach, dispersal and higher tempo. We look forward
to ongoing collaboration with Dstl, wider Defence, and our
strategic and commercial partners as we drive forward this
ground-breaking and exciting project.”
Summer 2020 will see the arrival of three all-terrain
VIKING 6x6 Unmanned Ground Vehicles, supplied by HORIBA
MIRA, which are capable of carrying up to 750kg of supplies
to frontline troops using advanced AI-based autonomy with
GPS-denied navigation. Two TITAN Unmanned Ground Systems
will then arrive through autumn 2020; comprising a tracked
system based around a modular mission system software
architecture. Experimentation and testing of these
differing systems will inform further understanding of the
capabilities that these autonomous systems can provide and
implications for their integration with the wider defence
logistics system.
The vehicles will be used by Dstl to conduct scientific and
user trials in collaboration with the Combat Service
Support Training and Development Unit (CSS TDU) based in
Aldershot, and other British Army units. The work will seek
to increase understanding of system potential and
limitations to reduce the risks specific to acquisition of
the Joint Tactical Autonomous Resupply and Replenishment
(JTARR) capability, but will also develop deeper knowledge
for the Army’s future employment of more advanced
autonomous system capabilities.
Robert Mohacsi, Senior Commercial Manager for Defence
Systems at HORIBA MIRA, said:
“Autonomous systems present the British Army with game
changing capabilities, redefining how we will conduct
future operations. Building on more than a decade of
experience in deploying autonomous technology into military
applications, HORIBA MIRA has applied an agile and fast
track approach that will enable the army to field this
equipment and meet its critical objectives. We are
immensely proud that VIKING, with its market leading
capability, has been selected to support this critical
programme.”
Speaking on award of the contract, Mike Stewart, Director
for Research Experimentation and Innovation for QinetiQ
said:
“Working to the principles of “Prototype Warfare”, as
adopted by the British Army, the Joint Tactical Autonomous
Resupply and Replenishment (JTARR) risk-reduction contract
is a prime example of how QinetiQ is taking an agile
approach to delivering solutions into the hands of the
military for evaluation whilst continuing spiralled
capability development.”
