The Future Capability Group of the U.K. Ministry of Defence has selected Elbit Systems UK to deliver autonomous swarms of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as part of the British Army’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) project.
The company will provide five autonomous swarms of six UAS each, operated using TORCH-X RAS, an operational open-architecture, platform-agnostic Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) solution that provides automated UAS mission management aided by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), as well as full autonomy solutions for the platform level.
The autonomous swarms of UAS will be used for surveillance, with the capability to fly and continuously monitor, scan and discover for up to eight hours. The information obtained will be constantly relayed between the other UAS as well as back to the Ground Control Station (GCS), with any changes to an environment or landscape highlighted on the GCS. This will be delivered through the use of stills and video feeds, alongside integrated mapping capabilities to provide real-time, precise information.
“Elbit Systems has a strong history in the provision of innovative UAS solutions including autonomous swarm capabilities and we are pleased to be providing these capabilities to the British Army,” said Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK. “The advanced integration and autonomy capabilities provided by TORCH-X RAS will support the British Army as they use enhanced information gathering to protect the men and women on the front line.”
