ARMY WARFIGHTING EXPERIMENT 2017

Pictured is a Royal Marine controlling a Black Hornet 2 Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). The pocket sized and hand launched UAV, or RPAS uses micro thermal cameras, visible spectrum cameras and proprietary software for flight control, stabilization, and communications. Weighing 18 grams, the Black Hornet helicopter can fly for up to 25 minutes at line-of-sight distances of up to one mile at speeds of 18 km/h. It uses GPS navigation or visual navigation via video and can fly pre-planned routes via its autopilot.  The Black Hornet was developed in 2007 and been used by NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2011, with the United Kingdom the first to acquire the type and use it operationally. It has also been evaluated by the US military and Australian army. Its small size and electric motors make it a stealthy reconnaissance tool for militaries and law enforcement agencies. The complete UAV system comprises two helicopters, a base station, controller, display unit and pouch weighting a total of 1.3 kg.  Over 200 personnel from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, 51 Squadron RAF Regiment and 45 Commando, have been putting new and innovative kit and capabilities through their paces on Salisbury Plain Training Area in Wiltshire, as they took part in the third phase of the Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) 17. AWE 17 has been at the forefront of the drive for world-class innovation at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) in which businesses and organisations, both large and small, were invited to submit solutions to a range of ‘problems’ set by the AWE team and were able to compete on a level playing field. From the 275 initial submissions, 72 products, from a self-sterilizing water bottle and a 56 foot ‘EasiBridge’ were selected for the project.

Łukasz Golowanow — 5 lutego 2019