AUGUST 17, 2020 – Sandnes, Rogaland. Nordic Unmanned AS has been awarded a £272,656 innovation contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) to demonstrate unmanned aerial systems sensors, data exploitation, and a semi-autonomous capability as part of the “Map the Gap” competition . The competition seeks to apply innovative technologies to enhance the capability of the Army’s combat engineers to carry out the reconnaissance and planning for the crossing of wet gap obstacles. Read about Map the Gap in greater detail here .
The current processes for the recce of obstacles such as rivers, streams and other “wet gaps”, is for specialist engineer reconnaissance troops to deploy forward and carry out a manual survey of the obstacle. This is time consuming, exposes troops to danger and risks compromising the security of the operation. The Nordic Unmanned approach is based on an operational solution which will allow the recce engineers to perform the wet gap survey in a remote way using unmanned and remote sensing technologies.
– This is a great and exciting project. We are very pleased to have the chance to show the versatility and adaptability of our systems applied to a military purpose integrating RPAS technology and geomatic techniques. Map the Gap is a great example of the potential of UAVs combined with geospatial and digital data for the new years to come, says Map the Gap project manager, Dr. Jose Luis Gil.
– We are delighted that the combination of our proven Norwegian produced UAV Staaker BG-200 and our UAV based experience, in addtion to our expertise in LiDAR and GIS was considered relevant in this innovative and important project of improving safety and bring tactical advantage to the British Army during crossing of wet gaps. This project is another very good example of how new applications for UAV’s use can become relevant in the future military theater as a result of the approach from DASA/Dstl to the industry, said CEO from Nordic Unmanned, Knut Roar Wiig.
The official statement from DASA reads:
“The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has awarded contracts worth a total £1.3m to develop semi-autonomous reconnaissance and survey systems to help troops safely and stealthily advance into enemy territory across water obstacles such as rivers.
Map the Gap run on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) ,sought ideas from industry and academia to create a new remote system capable of surveying potential crossing sites by gathering data about the river banks.”
The official statement from DASA can be read here.
About Nordic Unmanned
Nordic Unmanned provides extended situational awareness with tailored drone solutions that collects, integrates, and makes data understandable for the end-user and their critical usage scenarios. Founded in 2014 in Sandnes, Norway, Nordic Unmanned has become one of Europe’s leading service providers within unmanned technology, and has operations across the continent through, amongst others, a framework agreement with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). For more information visit nordicunmanned.com