Elbit Systems to deliver surveillance drone swarms to British Army

The UK Ministry of Defence has selected Elbit Systems UK to deliver surveillance drones for the British Army.

The Israeli defense electronics firm’s UK subsidiary will provide five swarms of six vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial systems under the army’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems project.

Each drone will be operated by the company’s AI and Machine Learning-aided TORCH-X RAS software “that maximizes the effectiveness of Manned/Unmanned Teaming, enabling synchronized autonomous operations involving ground and aerial unmanned platforms of heterogeneous fleets.”

Eight Hours Non-Stop Monitoring

The drones can remain in the air for up to eight hours, surveilling and relaying information to each other and the ground control station.

The drones will deliver information through “the use of stills and video feeds, alongside integrated mapping capabilities to provide real-time, precise information.”

CEO of Elbit Systems UK Martin Fausset said, “The advanced integration and autonomy capabilities provided by TORCH-X RAS will support the British Army as they use enhanced information gathering to protect the men and women on the front line.”