British Army Eyes Unmanned ‘Loyal Wingman’ for Apache Fleet
The British Army is looking for an autonomous collaborative platform (ACP) to support its fleet of Apache AH-64E helicopters.
Following the Royal Air Force’s StormShroud ACP rollout in May, the army wants an unmanned platform to handle reconnaissance, target acquisition, strikes, and countermeasure neutralization, boosting the crewed aircraft’s lethality and survivability.
The system should have a high degree of autonomy, enabling it to be “commanded” rather than directly controlled, according to a notice on the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) sourcing portal.
“The ACP will enhance the lethality and survivability of the crewed platform and do so with a smaller logistic footprint and lower maintenance requirement relative to the crewed platform,” the notice added.
Features
The uncrewed air system should have vertical take-off and landing capability and a payload capacity exceeding 200 kilograms (441 pounds), along with the necessary support network and equipment.
It should also offer fully autonomous command and control or adjustable levels of autonomy, supported by AI-based decision-making, digital twins, synthetic environments, and robust digital, data, and security standards.
As part of the project, the army will host an industry workshop on 21 August at the UK’s Defence BattleLab in Dorset.
“The workshop will gather defence industry stakeholders to explore potential solutions for this UAS and help the MoD better understand the readiness of the technology and available options,” the MoD’s Defence and Security Equipment International stated.
