Optionally crewed ASCOD variant demonstrates minefield clearance capabilities
The ASCOD Autonomous Platform was demonstrated on 10 October in Spain. (Photo: GDELS-SBS)
The developers of the ASCOD Autonomous Platform say it opens up remote and autonomous operations in a secure environment.
Spanish partners General Dynamics European Land Systems-Santa Bárbara Sistemas (GDELS-SBS) and SENER Aeroespacial demonstrated their optionally crewed ASCOD Autonomous Platform on 10 October to the Spanish Army at the 2E+I Forum innovation event in Toledo.
In the demonstration, the ASCOD vehicle on rubber tracks was operated via a remote handheld multifunction driver display to breach a minefield.
Featuring a driver assistance system plus remote and autonomous supervised driving modes, the new variant of ASCOD offers a ‘competitive advantage for remote and autonomous operations in a secure environment’, GDELS claimed on 11 October.
SENER Aeroespacial developed the autonomous vehicle’s real-time onboard navigation system under an agreement it signed with GDELS-SBS in 2021.
Add-on autonomous capabilities for ASCOD could be applied to newly designed vehicles or ‘transform conventional manned platforms into optionally unmanned platforms’, the company added.
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