Details released of US Navy UGV radio deal
USN MTRS Inc II EOD UGVs are to be upgraded with an improved radio. (Photo: Teledyne FLIR)
Persistent Systems will supply 600 MPU5 radios to the USN for installation onto EOD UGVs with deliveries expected to start next year.
Persistent Systems has revealed new details of a contract to supply MPU5 mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) radios as replacements for current equipment used on USN Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc II) EOD UGVs.
The deal is part of the Flexible Cybersecure Radio (FlexCSR) contract, worth $55 million awarded to Tomahawk Robotics by the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Indian Head Division. The MTRS Inc II UGV, also known as Centaur, is a medium-sized system and deliveries began in 2020.
Persistent Systems will provide 600 radios, including spares, with deliveries expected to begin in late 2024. The units will replace legacy radios used to control and communicate with UGVs and have been incorporated by Tomahawk Robotics into a solution that includes NSA Type 1 encryption.
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According to Persistent Systems, 'it shows how other military robots with our MANET systems can be upgraded with Type 1 encryption, when deemed appropriate'.
The detail follows the announcement last month that the company had created a firmware upgrade for the radio which adds AI capability and also expands the library of EW countermeasures that can be employed by the MPU5 when operating in congested or contested environments.
The MPU5 is in service worldwide with more than 1,000 ordered for the UK Royal Marines in support of the Future Commando Force programme. The marines have conducted trials with the radios during exercises in the Mojave Desert in the US and in Oman.
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