Royal Navy demonstrates UAS technology to support future operations
The Royal Navy has demonstrated its growing ambitions to integrate autonomous and crewless technology to better support future operations, with the HMS Prince of Wales serving as host of the Future Maritime Aviation Force Accelerator Day.
H.M.S. Princes of WalesThe Royal Navy’s newest aircraft carrier provided a stunning backdrop for the Future Maritime Aviation Force Accelerator Day this week, bringing together experts from the navy, MoD and industry to meet and discuss the vision for the drone operations.
It comes as the Navy looks to develop and invest in the latest technology, bringing new, cutting-edge equipment to the front more quickly.
Brigadier Dan Cheesman, Chief Technology Officer of the Royal Navy, co-hosted the event with Commodore Nick Walker, Deputy Chief of Naval Aviation, and asked attendees to consider how technology and innovation could transform the way the navy operates. in the heavens now and in the future. future.
The Future Maritime Aviation Force was also about looking at how the Royal Navy could harness and build on the pace of technological development already underway in the commercial sector, BRIG Cheesman said.
“We live in an exponential world of technological change, and if we can integrate the latest and put it to work, we will provide an advantage to win the battle. Specifically, bringing that technology to ships like HMS Prince of Wales It would change the rules of the game,” explained BRIG Cheesman.
Work from the Royal Navy’s NELSON Digital Accelerator Laboratory supports this idea. They have continued the development of the “plug in and play” MAPLE system which, when integrated into Royal Navy ships, will simplify the process of accessing and using autonomous and unmanned technology.
Tests carried out earlier this year in Norway used this system on the HMS. Albion and last year at HMS Argyll. In the future, all Royal Navy ships will have organic, open-architecture, fully connected, unmanned aviation systems. Prince of Wales be in charge of a series of trials.
“We are working collaboratively with companies like those here today to understand how they can help us move faster.”
BRIG Cheesman added that the Royal Navy’s aim should be for these new capabilities to be delivered in weeks and months, not years and decades as is currently accepted.
As previously announced by Admiral Tony Radakin, the first Sea Lord, the aircraft carrier will be used as a test bed for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Commodore Nick Walker, Deputy Chief of Naval Aviation, endorsed the importance of speed in the introduction of new technologies. Speaking aboard HMS Prince of Walessaid:
“When we routinely ship drones and other equipment onto ships, that’s when we really start to understand what they can do and get a sense of what we can achieve.
“We have to do it safely, the right way and consistently, but I want to see the type of equipment on display today in frontline operations a year from now,” CDRE Walker explained.
