The UK Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has launched a competition for development of a new semi-autonomous reconnaissance and survey system to help British forces advance into enemy waters.
‘The vision is to ultimately remove personnel from this dangerous and potentially compromising task,’ DASA announced in a 23 March statement.
‘The concept envisages a semi-autonomous remote system that can collect the required measurements without the need to deploy personnel to the potential crossing location.’
For Phase 1 of the project, DASA is offering £1.2 million ($1.38 million) in funding for a TRL 5 demonstrator plan. A second phase, involving funding of £2.5 million, will include TRL 6 prototype development, demonstration and in-service capability.
Phase 1 funding is available from DASA for three or four bids.
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Intended to sustain Operation Epic Fury against Iran, efforts to increase the production of weapons and ammunition could expose long-standing weaknesses in the US defence industrial base.
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