UK MoD awards £2million in contracts for Map the Gap
Argonaut is Ultrabeam's latest fully anphibious vehicle; designed, constructed and tested in 3 months at our HQ in Hayle, Cornwall. (Photo: Ultrabeam)
DASA has selected three small and medium-sized businesses to receive £2milion in contracts to help the military cross rivers, streams and bogs.
The Map the Gap: Phase 2 competition progresses as the Defence and Security Accelerator has awarded contracts worth £2million to three small and medium-sized businesses.
Digital Concepts Engineering aims to develop a low signature, autonomous unmanned air and ground system with the capability to deploy sensors to collect the desired gap measurements.
Ultrabeam has been selected for its product Argonaut 2, an autonomous, amphibious kinematic survey vehicle.
The Argonaut’s modular survey sensor package includes LiDAR, sonar, current profiler and electric cone penetrometer. It also implements AI machine learning technology to boost autonomy.
ISS Group has put forward a UAV rotorcraft solution equipped with 3D photogrammetric, EO/IR and downward viewing IR cameras, Simultaneous localisation and mapping sensor, ground-penetrating radar and bathymetric/topographic LiDAR.
Map the Gap aims to develop semi-autonomous reconnaissance and survey systems that help the military to cross obstacles such as rivers, streams, bogs and other ‘wet gaps’.
Replacing manned reconnaissance with a remote BLoS system will reduce the threat to life and offer the ability to survey multiple crossing sites in a more timely and efficient manner.
You may also like
More from Defence Notes
-
![US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule]()
US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
-
![New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”]()
New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”
The UK’s Minister for the Armed Forces Louise Sandher-Jones made her first appearance in the role before the House of Commons Defence Committee this week to highlight efforts to improve capability in the High North.
-
![Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes]()
Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes
Ottawa explores expanding defence-industrial cooperation with Washington into sensitive programmes, an approach that could reshape NORAD modernisation, strengthen North American supply chains and create new opportunities for defence contractors.
-
![UK’s latest defence robotics and autonomy competition looks to break new ground]()
UK’s latest defence robotics and autonomy competition looks to break new ground
The UK Ministry of Defence is backing early-stage, high-risk autonomy concepts that could redefine how military systems are developed and deployed.
-
![How AI is reshaping defence procurement through sustainment]()
How AI is reshaping defence procurement through sustainment
Artificial intelligence is not just changing how defence equipment is maintained but how defence programmes are won, creating new opportunities for industry by influencing acquisition decisions and shaping competition.
