Elbit Systems UK has been selected by the Future Capability Group of the UK Ministry of Defence to deliver autonomous swarms of Vertical Take-Off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as part of the British Army’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) project.
Elbit Systems will provide five autonomous swarms of six UAVs each, operated using TORCH-X RAS, an operational open-architecture platform-agnostic C4ISR solution, which provides automated UAV mission management aided by AI and machine learning, as well as full autonomy solutions for the platform level.
The autonomous swarms of UAVs 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 UAVs 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.
Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK, said: “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.
“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.”
