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The global prime has been tapped to support the UK’s exploration of unmanned vehicle capability for the future battlespace.
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The UK Ministry of Defence has selected Rheinmetall to support Spiral 3 of its Robotic Platoon Vehicles (RPV) program — a three-phase experiment to determine whether unmanned vehicles can improve the combat effectiveness and capabilities of dismounted troops at platoon level.
The British Army has ordered four Rheinmetall Mission Master SP – Surveillance Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (A-UGV) in an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) configuration and three Rheinmetall Mission Master SP – Cargo vehicles.
This builds on eight Mission Master vehicles procured in previous phases of the program.
This latest order, which is scheduled to be fully delivered by the end of August of this year, includes training, support services, and spare parts.
Rheinmetall Canada is the prime contractor for the program, working alongside its Ottawa-based robotics branch Rheinmetall Provectus.
The Mission Master SP is billed as a low-profile A-UGV designed to stealthily follow soldiers leveraging a low-signature electric motor, silent drive mode, and compact profile to escape detection under threat.
The Mission Master SP is powered by the PATH autonomy kit (A-kit), which is designed to enable the vehicle to find the safest routes through dangerous environments and challenging terrain.
The Mission Master SP – Surveillance is equipped with an ISTAR payload, which can be altered depending on mission objectives.
These sensors provide leading-edge target detection, recognition, and identification at long ranges, regardless of weather and lighting conditions. They also facilitate early warning and identification of chemical threats in the event of a chemical warfare.
Meanwhile, the Mission Master SP – Cargo is built to reduce soldiers’ combat load, helping to improve mobility and efficiency.
The platform can transport supplies, tactical kits, and medical equipment either independently, in follow-me mode, or in convoy mode with other Mission Master vehicles.
Together, the variants communicate using advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to maintain situational awareness.
The units are remotely managed by a single operator.
[Related: Rheinmetall’s Mission Master UGV SP tested in Sweden]
