UK — Automated Vehicles Could Lighten The Load On Troops

Farn­bor­ough, UK — The soldier’s bur­den on the bat­tle­field could be eased thanks to a new semi-autonomous, Mul­ti-Oper­at­ed All-Ter­rain Vehi­cle (MOATV) being devel­oped by BAE Sys­tems.

MOATV could car­ry troops’ sup­plies in the field Source: BAE Systems

The unique MOATV is designed to reduce the bur­den on the dis­mount­ed sol­der and has a range of sophis­ti­cat­ed fea­tures. As well as being dri­ven like an ordi­nary vehi­cle, it can be tele-oper­at­ed by a remote con­trol or instruct­ed to semi-autonomous­ly fol­low or go direct­ly to a sol­dier oper­at­ing a Per­son­al Dig­i­tal Assis­tant or PDA. 

The MOATV was devel­oped after BAE Sys­tems was charged with cre­at­ing a vehi­cle that car­ries sol­diers’ back­packs. UK sol­diers often have to car­ry more than 70Kg of equip­ment and pro­tec­tion dur­ing oper­a­tions which can lim­it their mobility. 

The BAE Sys­tems project includ­ed teams from the UK work­ing with col­leagues in Aus­tralia to devel­op, test and tri­al a ver­sa­tile solu­tion that has a wider range of capa­bil­i­ties. Unlike oth­er sys­tems which are bespoke, the tech­nol­o­gy on MOATV can be applied to any vehicle. 

In addi­tion, MOATV incor­po­rates col­li­sion detec­tion and avoid­ance sys­tems that allow it to nego­ti­ate around objects that lie in its path while oper­at­ing autonomously. 

Andy Wright, Direc­tor Tech­nol­o­gy Acqui­si­tion at BAE Sys­tems Strate­gic Capa­bil­i­ty Solu­tions busi­ness said: “Each MOATV vehi­cle can be used across a pla­toon, with indi­vid­ual sol­diers each hav­ing a sep­a­rate hand held PDA so they can pass con­trol of the vehi­cle from one to another. 

But the MOATV can do far more than sim­ply car­ry loads; it can also be used for evac­u­at­ing casu­al­ties in high-risk envi­ron­ments, sup­ply­ing ammu­ni­tion, patrolling perime­ters, vehi­cle con­voys and land reconnaissance. “ 

About BAE Sys­tems
BAE Sys­tems is a glob­al defence, secu­ri­ty and aero­space com­pa­ny with approx­i­mate­ly 107,000 employ­ees world­wide. The Com­pa­ny deliv­ers a full range of prod­ucts and ser­vices for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced elec­tron­ics, secu­ri­ty, infor­ma­tion tech­nol­o­gy solu­tions and cus­tomer sup­port ser­vices. In 2009 BAE Sys­tems report­ed sales of £22.4 bil­lion (US$ 36.2 billion). 

For fur­ther infor­ma­tion, please contact: 

Jo Fry, BAE Sys­tems
Tel: +441252 384708 Mob: 07793420318
Jo.fry@baesystems.com

Kate Watcham, BAE Sys­tems
Tel: +44(0)1252 383550 Mob: +44(0) 7793 420731
Kate.watcham@baesystems.com

Issued by: 

BAE Sys­tems, Farn­bor­ough, Hamp­shire GU14 6YU, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1252 384719 Fax: +44 (0) 1252 383947
24hr media hot­line: + 44 (0) 7801 717739
www.baesystems.com

Text- / Bildquelle (source):
BAE Systems