Specialists from the Defence Science and Know-how Laboratory (Dstl) have performed a key position in supporting the Army Warfighting Experiment Maintain and Defend (AWE S&P) train at His Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth (HMNBP). Dstl scientists from a variety of specialisms together with sensing, platform survivability, human science, autonomy and energy deployed to function and assess quite a lot of applied sciences resembling novel robotics and information fusion.
The aim of AWE S&P is to determine present, rising and novel applied sciences from trade companions to tell present and future gear programmes and encourage nearer collaboration throughout authorities, allies, companions and trade to make the Army extra deadly, agile, resilient and chronic. AWE will get these applied sciences into the fingers of the person and offers the chance to develop enough proof to:
- De-risk main idea and gear programmes – by figuring out and assessing candidate techniques, informing future necessities and funding selections
- Improve relationships with trade, companions and allies – by way of engagement, cooperation and burden-sharing the place acceptable
- Speed up Army transformation – by focussed hypotheses, integrating associated know-how and additional exploiting by way of spiral growth and Idea Functionality Demonstrators.
The Portsmouth train is a part of the second section within the AWE City collection which focuses on how the Army can maintain and defend a Brigade (and under) pressure within the city atmosphere by way of the utilisation of clever logistics, novel medical extraction and autonomous automobile extraction. It additionally goals to evaluate the implementation of bodily and non-physical obstacles which embody counter-uncrewed air techniques (C-UAS) and counter-cyber and electromagnetic actions (C-CEMA) to make sure automated platforms are survivable on the fashionable battlefield in a c2030 timeframe.
Dstl specialists have been concerned within the down choice of the 159 techniques initially submitted by trade towards AWE S&P particular hypotheses. All through the method greater than 20 Dstl workers labored carefully to help QinetiQ, DE&S and Army Trials and Improvement models (TDUs) of their assessments of techniques.
Finally, roughly 20 applied sciences progressed to the ultimate stage, the built-in experimentation evaluation, at Portsmouth Naval Base in November 2022. On this simulated stay hearth occasion, troops from 2 YORKS and three PARA, in addition to allied companions from parts of the Dutch Army’s Robotics and Autonomous Programs Unit and the US Army Experimentation Drive used the trade applied sciences in consultant platoon degree force-on-force city eventualities. Employees noticed using these applied sciences within the actions, offering suggestions to navy suppliers and AWE organisers, serving to information the event of future capabilities for Army use in for City Operations.
Lt Col Arthur Dawe, Commanding Officer, Infantry Trials and Improvement Unit, stated: “Dstl is continually looking for to enhance the effectiveness of the UK’s armed forces by figuring out and assessing novel applied sciences. These new applied sciences will supply operational benefit in various areas, resembling improved sensing to determine and monitor adversaries, or by way of growing the velocity and compatibility of knowledge, enabling commanders to make sooner and extra impactful selections.”
Dstl helps trials and experimentation for all the armed forces together with multi-national train resembling Mission Convergence and the Contested City Surroundings.
