As I said in last week’s opener for the show, the UK military does a great job of supporting DSEi. Here are two of the systems they had on display, the Spiral 1 RPV and Watchkeeper UAV.
This Remote Patrol Vehicle is built by Marlborough Communications Limited and consists of their Mission Adaptable Platform System (MAPS) Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). Spiral 1 is an experiment to determine future robotics requirements in these areas: resupplying platoon soldiers, reducing load burden on soldiers, casualty evacuation and power export for charging and supply of platoon level electronics.
Based on Elbit’s Hermes 450, the Watchkeeper UAV is fitted with an EO/IR sensor, has a cruising speed of 77 knots (143 km/h), can operate at an altitude of 16,000 feet, and can operate up to 150 km from the Ground Control Station, but multiple stations can be linked to extend the range.
