On December 18, 2020, the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released a Request for Information to acquire Maritime Heavy Lift UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) for the British Navy.
Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 British Navy and DARE (Discover, Analysis and Rapid Exploitation) have been working with UK drone firm Malloy Aeronautics and Planck Aerosystems in the development of unmanned air vehicles for the purpose of moving supplies onto ships. (Picture source UK Defence Journal)
The British Ministry Of Defence (MoD) is currently seeking information in order to qualify requirements and develop our understanding of the potential for the market to provide an autonomous maritime airborne heavy lift capability for the Royal Navy.
The purpose of this Request for Information (“RFI”) is to enhance the British MoD awareness and allow for initial review of a range of maritime airborne autonomous capabilities that currently exist or are in development within the marketplace to support the development of the RN’s Autonomy network and the creation of the Future Maritime Aviation Force (FMAF, the rapid transformation of crewed aviation roles (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Communications, Lift and Strike) to uncrewed).
The use of unmanned air vehicles in the logistics role offers a range of advantages from reduced costs, missions being completed quicker and the ship’s company not being exposed to certain risks.