In just six weeks Thales Australia has designed, built and successfully completed a live-fire test of its newest autonomous innovation, the Guardian Angel - an 8x4 UGV prototype at the company’s Lithgow site in regional NSW.
The prototype and capability test paves the way for future UGV platforms and variants.
The UGV was developed in partnership with Chaos 1 - an SME specialising in the rapid assessment, prototyping and experimentation of autonomous systems; and W & E Platt - a leader in the design and manufacture of weapon Mounting Systems.
Guardian Angel is named after a role served by Australian soldiers in the Middle East who were tasked with protecting Australian forces by watching their backs when they were exposed in dangerous environments.
Designed to reduce risk to soldiers, the Guardian Angel can be partnered with Thales’ suite of Protected Mobility Vehicles, including the Bushmaster, StrikeMaster and Hawkei. According to Thales, operating in concert, these platforms offer 'enhanced tactical flexibility' and expanded mission options for the ADF, while placing technology in harm’s way rather than defence personnel.
Engineered for performance and protection, the UGV features a containerised mission system allowing Medevac, scout, troop support, fire support, and transport variants; payload integration with W & E Platt’s powerful remote weapon system; a secure and resilient communications suite.
“Guardian Angel has been built leveraging Thales Australia’s expertise in manufacturing, cutting-edge technology and integration, protected mobility vehicle design and industry partnerships," Andrew Downes, VP, Land Thales Australia, said.
“The Thales team, in partnership with Chaos 1 and W & E Platt, have delivered this UGV in an extremely compressed time-frame, which is a testament to the skill, dedication and expertise of the workforce at Lithgow.
“UGVs can preserve soldiers by operating in high-risk environments while providing a clear tactical advantage, assisting operations on the battlefield. They offer scalable, agile, cost-effective capability that can increase operational reach without increasing risk to personnel.
“Thales Australia is proud to continue strengthening sovereign industrial capability in this country.”
“Rapid prototyping in true form – little time, extremely chaotic, and high-risk. In just six weeks we moved from a concept graphic to live-fire demonstration and many said it couldn’t be done. What the Guardian Angel project proved is the sheer horse-power industry can generate for the warfighter at speed, and a bright future for Lithgow," Benny Johanson, Founder & CEO Chaos 1, said.
“The Guardian Angel project demonstrated that coordinated Australian industry collaboration creates a seamless pipeline from rapid prototyping to sovereign manufacturing to deliver a defence-ready capability," Allan Platt, W & E Platt Director, said.
“For our team, the project went well beyond integrating a payload onto an uncrewed platform. It was a powerful demonstration that the Australian industry possesses the vision and momentum to meet emerging operational needs with speed, innovation and sovereign control.”