The UK Ministry of Defence‘s (MoD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has selected BAE Systems Yeovil as prime contractor to manage the ministry’s efforts to advance the application of human sciences in its field.
Under the terms of the contract, Bae will manage the MoD’s four-year, multi-million pound research programme, called Defence Human Capability Science and Technology Centre, aimed at supporting priority human capability requirements across the defence ministry.
The company will work in collaboration with a wide range of suppliers from industry, academia, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to generate a virtual human capabilities ‘Centre of Excellence’.
BAE Systems Defence Information managing director Alun Fishburne said: "BAE Systems has a long history of working with a broad range of suppliers to deliver world class, high-impact research in this domain."
Dstl human capability research lead Fiona Cotter added that the UK’s SME community holds a vast wealth of knowledge and expertise in human sciences domain.
"Through the defence human capability science and technology centre, we hope that they will become involved directly as researchers and knowledge providers," Cotter added.
According to the company, the centre will enable human sciences research across a wide range of themes, including human factors integration, personnel, influence and stabilisation, health and well-being, as well as training.
The research eventually aims to boost physical and cognitive performance, which will reducing soldier burden while maximising safety, enabling them to use recent developments in simulated environments for training and exploiting human behaviours in conflict resolution.
Apart from providing access to researchers and subject matter experts, the centre will also promote innovation in the supply chain, and will seek opportunities for collaboration and partners across government, research councils, industry, charities and international partners to maximise investments and improve use of scarce resources.
