Work has begun on converting Warrior infantry fighting vehicles into uncrewed minefield breaching platforms as part of the trial phase of Project ATILLA, according to a written answer published this week.
Luke Pollard, Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry, was responding to Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative MP for Huntingdon, who had asked what stage the project had reached, referring back to an answer given in November 2025.
Mr Pollard said: “Project ATILLA aims to deliver an uncrewed ground vehicle minefield-breaching capability. Work is ongoing to convert Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles as part of the trial phase.”
The answer marks a further step for a programme we have followed since the Ministry of Defence first set out its plans. As we reported in August 2025, the department published a notice seeking to procure and spirally develop an optionally crewed minefield breaching system based on the Warrior, for use in the United Kingdom and overseas by a Royal Engineer unit.
The contract was valued at £12 million and set to run from January 2026 to March 2028, with an optional one-year extension at the department’s discretion. Suppliers were required to confirm they could provide six optionally crewed systems capable of generating a safe lane comparable to platforms already in service, a requirement set as a pass or fail test that would discount any bidder unable to meet the timelines.
By November 2025, as we reported, Mr Pollard confirmed the project had progressed beyond considering conceptual elements such as evaluating feasibility and was preparing to move into the invitation to tender stage.
What ATILLA is for
The department has described the requirement as an attritable minefield breaching capability, meaning vehicles expected to operate in conditions where losses are likely, which is the reasoning behind making them optionally crewed so they can take those risks without soldiers aboard.
The programme is structured in two concurrent phases under a single contract. Phase one covers the procurement of a minimum deployable capability of up to six optionally crewed systems based on the Warrior donor vehicle, fitted with front end equipment for use as a battlegroup breaching capability. Phase two focuses on advancing autonomy and refining requirements for a future purpose-built heavy uncrewed ground vehicle fleet.
The intention behind exploiting an in-service vehicle is to de-risk and accelerate the later procurement of a modular, autonomous, heavy payload uncrewed ground vehicle within a time and cost bound contract.
The vehicles themselves
Warrior entered service in the 1980s and formed the backbone of the Army’s armoured infantry for four decades. As we reported in December, the Ministry of Defence has ruled out any extension to the planned withdrawal, confirming the type will leave service in 2027 as scheduled, which is what makes surplus hulls available for conversion.
The decision also follows earlier government decisions not to transfer surplus Warriors to Ukraine.
Minefield breaching has become considerably more prominent since 2022. Russian forces in Ukraine have laid defensive belts on a scale not seen in Europe since the Second World War, and the 2023 Ukrainian counter-offensive demonstrated what happens to armoured formations attempting to cross them without adequate breaching equipment, with vehicles halted in the open under artillery and drone observation.
The department has linked the wider effort to a commitment to spend at least ten per cent of equipment procurement budgets on novel technologies including artificial intelligence and uncrewed systems.
