The UK defense ministry has awarded Marlborough Communications Limited (MCL) a £1.5m (approx. US$1.9m) contract for the delivery of four unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for the defense ministry’s remote patrol vehicle (RPV) experimentation program.
The UGVs have been developed by Australian defense technology company Praesidium Global Pty Ltd, which has agreed an exclusive UK and Europe supply arrangement with MCL to initially support Spiral 1 of the RPV program.
The RPV experimentation program is an MoD project to determine the future requirements of UGVs through a series of trials.
Spiral 1 focuses on four key areas: resupplying platoon soldiers, reducing load burden on soldiers, casualty evacuation and power export for charging and supply of platoon level electrical equipment. The UGVs will be trialed for 90 days over a period of 12 months on a mixture of tracks, off-road and hard surfaces as detailed by UK training standards.
Spirals 2 and 3 of the RPV experimentation program will focus on ISTAR, EOS systems and remote weapon stations respectively.
The MAPS UGV, which MCL will supply to the MoD as prime contractor, is a skid steer, six-wheel drive vehicle powered by batteries and a three-cylinder diesel generator – providing efficient power for battery charging and ensuring power for digital electronic system support. As detailed by Cohort, the generator offers a recharge with four liters of fuel, while the UGV can carry 100 liters of diesel enabling as much as 20 days of operation. The vehicle is designed to enable generator start and main battery recharging from flat battery condition.
MCL will also provide payload solutions for the MAPS UGV in Spiral 1 of the programme, which includes a casualty evacuation solution for two casualties and a medic, as well as a power distribution box for exporting power to equipment.
