The British Army is moving ahead with plans to develop a new autonomous aircraft designed to operate alongside Apache AH-64E attack helicopters, according to a Ministry of Defence notice.
The planned Land Autonomous Collaborative Platform (LACP) would be an uncrewed air system (UAS) operating in a “highly autonomous, ‘commanded not controlled’ manner”, able to perform multiple mission types in contested environments. These include “reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, countermeasure defeat, and integration with Launched Effects”.
According to the notice, the aim is to “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”. A Vertical Take-off and Landing (VToL) UAS with the capacity to carry payloads of around 200kg or more is considered most likely to meet the operational requirement.
The Army says it is interested in “innovative and novel solutions that leverage advancements in autonomy, modularity, and manufacturing scalability”, with a focus on AI-enabled decision-making, digital twins, synthetic environments, and secure digital and data standards. Modular payloads are also expected to play a role, enabling rapid reconfiguration of the system for different missions.
The programme will need to address “the challenges of integrating a system of systems and the adoption of modularity” while working with both civilian and military regulators on airworthiness certification. Cyber resilience, communications, navigation, and interoperability are also listed as key Defence Lines of Development.
Although the announcement relates to an industry day on 21 August at the Defence BattleLab in Dorset, the requirement is framed as part of the Army’s modernisation push to pair crewed and uncrewed systems for greater battlefield effect. The Ministry of Defence notes that the effort is a continuation of work discussed at the National Armaments Director Group earlier in August and that the LACP initiative will help shape the Army’s user requirements for the system.
Sounds like a Lonely hearts add.
“British Army seeks drones to fly with Apache gunships”
“Must have a good sense of humour”
I can’t help being first !
More like a Swingers Club methinks.
Big butch gunship seeks partner to command, sounds like domestic abuse to me….
Obviously, as a force multiplier, this would be a good thing BUT there is a risk that as the Armed Forces rush to modernise every Service is developing autonomous this or that and that there will be no money left to actually produce any of this kit.
Apache E, the one thing the British army has managed to acquire in numbers in a reasonable timescale and it’s obsolete as soon as it arrives.
A waste of money!!
Helicopters have so many limitations- low altitude, low top speed, large radar and acoustic signatures, limited range. Unless you need their unique advantage of vertical take off and landing, why replicate those limitations in an unmanned platform?
The US army abandoned the Comanche, a more stealthy reconnaissance and strike helicopter, .
.judging it had low battlefield survivability against modern air defences.
interesting. but not sure it is best use of budget to build prototypes just yet
these helos are expensive to buy, maintain and train the crew, and most importantly they are very vunerable on the frontline which is their purpose. furthermore many of the gunship role can now be done by cheaper drones without risk of losing a highly trained crew
before spending any money on developping any gear, it would make more sense to redefine the gunship’s role and doctrine. are wingman drones the answer? are longer range weapons needed? etc….
I won’t pretend to have the answers, but this needs some serious thought, some virtual gaming out to get a clear idea of what direction is needed before sinking any money into producing anything.
my 2 cents
Excellent!! More trials ahead, tea and biscuits all around.
Would these accompanying drones replace the often-accompanying AAC Wildcat? So what would their role become?
I think we’re missing a trick with apache. C-UAS, air launched effects. We’ve gone foe JDAM when we should look at integrating Spear3, or at least spike NLOS. Seems the army, yet again are happy to stick with their “shinny new toy” oh and give wildcat to the navy.