A £3.8-million contract to trial an advanced base defence
system has been awarded to the American company Anduril
Industries through Strategic Command’s jHub.
The system uses an advanced operating system, which is
assisted by AI, and a network of sensors to autonomously
detect, classify, and track potential threats.
It uses a combination of sentry towers, ground sensors and
drone technology to alert personnel of any intrusion on the
ground or in the air and then presents options for
personnel to respond. The system has the capacity to add
different sensors and autonomously offers options to
respond, depending on the threat.
The contract was awarded as a part of Programme TALOS, a
MOD programme focused on accelerating a defence-wide
approach to integrated command and control (C2). The system
has been offered through a new subscription model, meaning
the software and hardware will be updated with the latest
technology whilst also being maintained for operational
use.
This approach ensures that defence is equipped with the
latest cutting-edge technology whilst also allowing the
jHub to work with the company to trial and deploy new
technology as it is developed. It forms part of the jHub’s
work towards a Sustainable Tech Adoption Model (STAM),
which is looking into different ways of working with
industry to procure new capabilities.
Programme TALOS previously experimented with counter ground
intrusion towers at the UK’s overseas base in Akrotiri,
Cyprus, to see whether the systems could be integrated into
the existing C2 network. This next step allows the UK to
continue to develop advanced, multi-domain, integrated
force protection technology.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, Commander of UK Strategic
Command, said:
This state-of-the-art technology will give our serving
men and women help by identifying and assessing external
threats in nanoseconds. The artificial intelligence at
the heart of this system has great potential to protect
our people and sites. It’s another success for our
innovation team at jHub, working closely with Anduril to
help create a bespoke system, from idea to implementation
at pace, to meet the specific requirements of our Armed
Forces.