Babcock has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ark Robotics to explore manufacturing uncrewed ground vehicles in Britain, bringing a platform already in use on the front line in Ukraine to British and allied forces, the company stated.
The agreement was signed at Defence Vehicle Dynamics, the biennial land warfare exhibition, and covers joint exploration of British manufacturing, systems integration and payload integration, along with the development of a full support solution taking in training, logistics, infrastructure and operational support.
The two will also examine opportunities for Ark Robotics’ Frontier system, which gives robots autonomous navigation and allows a single operator to control several vehicles at once.
Louise Atkinson, Chief Executive of Babcock’s Land and Mission Systems sector, said: “In a more volatile and unpredictable world, our customers need the latest and most innovative solutions to ensure they maintain the operational edge. As a business, we connect people, platforms, technology, information and operations across every domain, and by partnering with Ark Robotics, we can leverage our expertise in autonomy, manufacturing and systems integration to deliver next-generation uncrewed ground systems for the UK and international customers.”
Achi Takagama, chief executive of Ark Robotics, said: “Ark Robotics has been at the forefront of the development of unmanned systems in Ukraine. We are building infrastructure for a future in which militaries field many times more unmanned systems than soldiers. Meeting that shift requires more than technology. It requires the manufacturing capacity, systems integration and through-life support that turn a proven platform into a sovereign capability. Partnering with Babcock, a global defence leader, is how we bring what we have learned on the frontline to the UK and other allies at scale.”
The A1, the vehicle at the centre of the agreement, is deployed with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and has a range of up to 20km per charge, a top speed of 40kph and a payload capacity of 15kg. At the exhibition the two companies are showing it fitted with a Concept smoke generator, which lays a smokescreen automatically where and when it is needed.
According to Babcock, uncrewed ground vehicles are taking on a rapidly growing share of front line tasks, resupplying teams with ammunition, weapons and equipment, laying smokescreens and evacuating casualties, keeping people out of the most exposed positions.
That last function has become the most visible of them in Ukraine, where casualty evacuation across ground under constant drone observation has cost stretcher parties heavily, and where a vehicle that can carry a wounded soldier out without exposing four more has an obvious appeal. Ark Robotics describes itself as a European technology company building the infrastructure layer for mass robotics, with its technology deployed across more than twenty military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and improved continuously through operational feedback.
The agreement follows a series of similar arrangements Babcock has entered this year. It announced a collaboration with Supacat to enhance its General Logistics Vehicle offering for the British Army’s Light Mobility Vehicle programme, intended to replace the retiring Land Rover fleet, and is working with HII and Arondite through ARMOR Force on autonomous systems, modular technology and digital innovation in support of the hybrid navy.
