Can NATO’s CUAS marketplace turn urgent demand into deliveries?
Framework contracts and leasing options aim to shorten acquisition timelines, while manufacturing partnerships could help suppliers scale production to meet allied demand.
The Australian Defence Force has selected Bertin Technologies’ Second Sight MS chemical threat standoff detector for the Australian Army, the company announced on 27 April.
The Second Sight MS is a remote gas-detection system that uses a real-time infrared sensor to detect threats such as chemical warfare agents or toxic industrial gas clouds at ranges of up to 5km.
The ruggedized system provides early warning of the threat, and gathers all the data needed to manage the attack: type of gas, location of source, extent and spread of contamination.
Romain Verollet, manager of defence and security, Bertin Technologies, said: ‘The Second Sight is composed of different modules, providing it with unrivalled flexibility of use and versatility as well as compactness, deployability and operability.
‘Another key advantage of our equipment is its ability to detect unexpected chemical threats in an asymmetric warfare scenario, no matter which is the type of gas used or the location of its dispersal.’
Framework contracts and leasing options aim to shorten acquisition timelines, while manufacturing partnerships could help suppliers scale production to meet allied demand.
The US is pursuing multiple UGV programmes, from commercial robotic platforms to new autonomy technologies. The combination of these efforts could prove key to turning ambition into operational capability.
NATO is looking to artificial intelligence to provide integration between different C2 systems to create a common operational picture, potentially offering a faster route to interoperability than the slow-moving processes of NATO standards committees.
The large-scale exercise in Latvia was the culmination of three experimentation initiatives to see how platforms, weapons and systems could fit into the alliance’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative. As well as forces, it brought together companies and equipment.
Canada plans to acquire at least 120 uncrewed aerial systems through two competitions with combined funding ceilings of C$32 million.
New counter-drone technologies, autonomous launchers and manufacturing modernisation initiatives highlighted emerging opportunities for defence suppliers, while the UK advanced a major military vehicle procurement programme.