The UK will host industry representatives to better understand available solutions.  

The British Army is seeking to develop a new land Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP) that will support its Apache AH-64E helicopters. 

Comprised of a UAS, the ACP will pair with the Apache helicopter and must operate in a “highly autonomous, ‘commanded not controlled’ manner”, according to a notice on the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) sourcing portal. 

The ACP must be capable of performing a range of tasks including reconnaissance, target acquisition, strike, countermeasure defeat, and integration with launched effects, enhancing the “lethality and survivability of the crewed platform”. 

The British Army will host an industry workshop on 21 August as part of this project, set to be hosted in the UK’s Defence BattleLab in Dorset. The workshop will gather defence industry stakeholders to explore potential solutions for this UAS and help the MoD better understand the readiness of the technology and available options.  

While not wanting to be too descriptive about the ACP’s potential capabilities, the MoD has suggested potential areas of interest. These include a vertical take-off and landing UAS capable of carrying payloads in excess of 200kg and solutions that enable varying levels of autonomy, such as the autonomous command and control of the UAS. 

Other areas of interest include certification, regulation, system integration, and modular payloads. 

Workshops will have access to subject matter experts and other facilitators, with the aim of being to explore acquisition approaches that foster innovation, speed, and adaptability. Three core workshops are planned throughout the day, focusing on UAS, autonomy, and integration, comms, and navigation systems 

The MoD also said it welcomes responses from the entire range of industry stakeholders, including original equipment manufacturers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and non-traditional firms.  

The deadline to register interest in this workshop is 11 August, though the MoD noted that “non-participation in this pre-market engagement activity will not prejudice any future procurement”.