Reaffirming its objective of “doubling lethality” by 2027, the British Army has released a booklet containing multiple problem statements calling for innovative solutions from industry. The systems eventually procured must have a good enough Technology Readiness Level to ensure deployability, at least in an initial form, by 2027. The procurement will be carried out under the new Spiral Acquisition method of procurement in which an initial useful capability is then developed further for subsequent purchasing rounds.

The proposals must come with maximum NATO interoperability in mind and although the Army is open to work with any supplier, by default priority will be accorded to offers that benefit british firms and workforce.

The challenges have been defined by the RAPSTONE Task Force, a new, dedicated team focused on accelerating the development and delivery of new Land capabilities.

The challenges are grouped by themes, with the first being “how to target the enemy at the greatest possible distance”. Novel UAS and UGVs and sensor systems for infantry and special forces teams are sought to ensure a “continuous” stike capability against hidden and/or beyond-line-of-sight enemies.

New solutions are sought to share data data and connect the Sense-Decide-Strike kill chain at Brigade, Division and Corps level. This in turn drives a call of new, resilient, high bandwidth voice and data networks for the dismounted soldiers.

New lethal payloads are sought for “105, 155 mm shells and 227 mm (GMLRS) rockets” to improve striking ranges and offensive capability against area and mobile targets. This call insists on something DE&S has been working on for some time, at least for the GMLRS rockets, through the Technical Demonstrator 5 programme which wants to integrate UAS, smart attack munitions and other advanced payloads.

New “effectors” with a range superior to 250 km are sought to improve Division and Corps Deep Strike capability. The specific 250 km treshold is possibly driven by the Modini DART 250 One-Way Strike drones already procured and put in service under project ASGARD: that is their current strike reach.

The second theme is Mobility and Survivability, which begins with a call for new sensors to detect enemy Group 1 UAS at greater ranges. The British Army has been jointly testing industry proposals alongside the US Army under the VANAHEIM bi-national framework.

New EW systems to attack enemy communications, GPS and drone controls are sought, as well as new, advanced decoys that can replicate “visual, acoustic and thermal” signatures of real force elements to reliably trick more advanced enemy sensors.

A new EW system specifically meant to replicate the electromagnetic signature of friendly forces (basically transmitting fake comms and electronic signals) is also sought to create “ghost threats” on enemy screens.

A new, generalist solution for the Infantry Platoon is sought to detect and clear mines. The Platoon also needs a new generation of modular gap-crossing kit to overcome obstacles of “at least” 10 meters widht and various depth. Ideally, the solution should have some degree of capacity to take light vehicles and UGVs as well. British startup EasiBridge has a number of “ladder”-based solutions scalable to allow the crossing of Quad Bikes with trailers, and even larger kits which can allow the crossing of protected vehicles in JACKAL / FOXHOUND size range, so this specific call seems shaped upon kit the army has already been experimenting with for some time.

New solutions for the rapid creation of counter-mobility barriers, especially explosive ones, are sought: effectively, the Army wants novel solutions to replace the long lost rapid minelayer SHIELDER that was withdrawn from service around 2011.

Uncrewed solutions to “increase the number of breaches / crossing points” across the front are also wanted.

New solutions are also wanted to intercept and locate enemy transmissions in the electro-magnetic spectrum. Along with new sensors, the Army wants a dedicate system to collate the data gathered and generate a “Recognized Electro-Magnetic Picture” of emissions across the battlefield. In association, new solutions are sought to improve the training imparted to soldiers to operate in EM-dense battlefields.

Finally, the last theme is “how to conduct logistics in the precision age”. New medical solutions are sought to extend the survival time of critical injured personnel. The aim is ensuring survival within an evacuation process to the nearest Damage Control Surgery facility that is anticipated to take up to 2 hours.

Solutions are sought to generate power and recharge batteries in the field; to deliver supplies to the very line of fire, ideally with novel solutions other than UAS and UGVs (which are already the subject of experimentation). New predictive maintenance systems are wanted to ease the support of equipment in the field.

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