£17million contract awarded for force protection technology
The MoD has awarded defence technology company Anduril Industries a 31-month contract to explore future capabilities.
Strategic Command’s innovation team, jHub, are working with Anduril on the third phase of Programme TALOS.
TALOS aims to accelerate a defence-wide approach to Integrated Command and Control (C2) for Force Protection, with Phase 3 focused on experimenting with technological advancements that could inform future capabilities and platforms.
This builds on earlier work which established an understanding of Anduril’s autonomous Sentry Towers, and their utility at active Royal Air Force (RAF) air bases, and introduced multiple Force Protection layers at locations across the MoD.
This new contract will further develop these capabilities, experimenting with integrated technologies to better understand ways of providing end-to-end solutions.
The jHub are fundamental in this work, and it closely aligns with their aim of delivering competitive advantage against adversaries through novel capabilities. Taking an opportunity-led and user-centred approach, the jHub has a particular focus on delivering impact at pace.
Lieutenant Colonel Dan Sawyers, Head of the jHub, Strategic Command, said:
Technology within Defence is rapidly advancing, and we must harness these changes to respond to a more contested and volatile world.
Phase 3 of this programme will see us continue to innovate, utilising technology to protect the UK and our allies anytime and anywhere.
The innovative work of the jHub is complemented by Anduril, whose Lattice software platform leverages advancements in key technologies. Their work on TALOS explores future capabilities for fixed installation Force Protection and Counter Intrusion and Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems across Permanent Joint Operating Bases.
Greg Kausner, Anduril’s Head of Global Defense, said:
The contract with jHub will allow Anduril to expedite modern defence technology and robustly support UK Defence, and represents an advancement of our relationship with the MoD.
Force Protection and Counter Intrusion are increasingly important as the nature of threats expand, and Anduril’s Lattice platform can play a key role. Our objective is to meet the specific requirements of armed forces to best shape the future of defence with advanced, modern technology; to do this, working with partners like jHub is key.