General Dynamics Land Systems-UK (GDLS-UK) and ARX Robotics have formed a new collaboration aimed at advancing the integration of autonomous systems with British Army crewed vehicles.
The collaboration is in line with the Army’s focus on combining crewed and uncrewed systems within force structures to enhance battlefield awareness, survivability, and operational reach.
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ARX Robotics and GDLS-UK will explore how the former’s Hector uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) could be teamed with the Army’s Ajax armoured vehicle, allowing it to direct autonomous “wingmen” during future operations.
By integrating the Hector uncrewed ground vehicle with Ajax, the companies will examine how autonomous systems can support crewed fighting vehicles by extending operational reach, improving battlefield awareness, and lowering the risk to soldiers.
Ajax is designed as a digitised land platform equipped with sensing, processing, and command-and-control capabilities intended to coordinate autonomous systems during tactical operations.
In addition, the companies will explore how GDLS-UK’s manufacturing and integration facilities in South Wales might contribute to producing and scaling autonomous land systems in the UK.
GDLS-UK vice-president and general manager Scott Milne said: “Through our collaboration with ARX Robotics, we are exploring how Ajax can help realise that vision by combining its world-class sensing, processing and command-and-control capabilities with autonomous systems to extend battlefield reach, accelerate decision-making and deliver greater operational advantage.”
In addition to developing new capabilities, GDLS-UK and ARX Robotics plan to examine potential areas for industrial and skills collaboration to enhance the UK workforce, supply chain, and manufacturing capacity required for large-scale production, integration, and sustainment of autonomous land systems.
The areas under consideration include final assembly and integration, manufacturing engineering, CNC machining and fabrication, UK supply chain development, workforce expansion and skills training, as well as through-life support and sustainment.
The collaboration aligns with the UK’s broader objective to enhance domestic defence industrial capacity, promote the use of autonomous technologies, and ensure that future land capabilities are manufactured, integrated, and maintained within the country.
ARX Robotics UK CEO David Roberts said: “This collaboration is about building the industrial capacity and skills base to produce and support these systems here in Britain. If the UK wants to field autonomy at meaningful scale, it needs the sovereign manufacturing capability to match.”
Earlier this year, ARX Robotics UK started manufacturing autonomous ground systems domestically after securing its initial contract with the British Army.
