Trillium imaging payloads selected for British Army’s Stalker VXE30 drone fleet
Stalker VXE30 UAS ordered for the British Army will be fitted with Trillium HD55 imaging payloads. (Image: Lockheed Martin)
Trillium Engineering’s HD55 series payloads will equip the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Stalker VXE30 ISR UAS supplied to the British Army under the UK MoD’s Project Tiquila effort.
Trillium Engineering has announced that its HD55 series gimbal has been selected by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works to be on board the Stalker VXE30 UAS supplied under the UK MoD’s ten-year Project Tiquila contract
The £129 million Project Tiquila will provide the British Army with Stalker VXE30 and Indago 4 small UAS.
These will be used for ISR services with advanced targeting, and automated target and threat recognition, enabled by AI technology.
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The Stalker VXE30 will carry Trillium’s HD55-LV-CZ and HD55-LV-CZ-LP payloads, delivering imaging to locate and identify potential targets at multiple ranges in a variety of environments.
Gimbal features include embedded video processing with electronic stabilisation and scene tracking, onboard GPS/INS with real-time vehicle and target location, and day/night operation through visible and thermal cameras.
Shephard Defence Insight notes that according to Project Tiquila’s 18 September 2020 tender notice, this sought a man-packable system with an MTOW of up to 4kg, and a man-portable platform with an MTOW of up to 20kg. Both would be operated from a common ground control station and must host an EO/IR payload to fulfil ISR roles.
According to the MoD announcement awarding the contract to Lockheed Martin on 16 December 2022, delivery of the drones would start in March 2023 and full operational capability for four Future Soldier Batteries will be realised in 2026.
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