The Blue Bear Group is delighted to announce that Team Avenger has won one of three contracts to design a demonstrator Mosquito Unmanned Air System (UAS) for the UK MOD’s Rapid Capabilities Office in partnership with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
Team Avenger comprises ‘best of breed’ talent from Defence and Commercial sectors and is led by Blue Bear to deliver a next generation vehicle and mission system in unprecedented timescales during Phase 1 of the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) Demonstrator Feasibility Study, under which the Mosquito UAS is being developed. The LANCA programme enables the UK to showcase its world class expertise in unmanned combat aircraft system design, production and flight test that has been accumulated over the last 35+ years.
Dr Yoge Patel, CEO of Blue Bear Group said “Team Avenger are privileged to be working alongside the UK Royal Air Force to deliver the Mosquito Loyal Wingman concept. Many Team Avenger members have 25+ years of experience on this class of vehicle and so it is an excellent opportunity for our multi-disciplinary consortia. Mosquito will be low cost and adaptable to enable rapid role fit for the emergent combat environment. Blue Bear’s Open Architecture and Modular approach to designing unmanned systems, which have undergone many iterative trials in the UK over the last 10 years, is a key enabler for adaptability at low cost. These enablers, combined with our world-class Autonomy solutions, provide a discriminatory capability for the Loyal Wingman. We look forward to production and flight test phases of the programme”.
Blue Bear is now in its 20th year of operation and the Mosquito UAS is one that the Blue Bear Group have waited to emerge as a firm UK requirement, not least because of the growing international interest in this category of vehicle noted over the last 5 years. Blue Bear is renowned as an SME that boxes well above its weight in the provision of Systems Integration and Managed Services, much like larger Defence OEMs. The steady growth of the Group has been enabled by contracts with the UK MOD Government Laboratory, Dstl, as well as larger OEMs who use Blue Bear to deliver their unmanned solutions and is further bolstered by Blue Bear’s continued commitment to re-invest Group funds in Intellectual Property development. The Group’s longstanding ethos is to form feisty collaborative teams with other OEMs, Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Academia, pulled from the UK Defence Sector and other domains.
Ian Williams-Wynn, Managing Director said “The way in which the LANCA competition was run by RCO and Dstl sets a new template for UK capability development. By opening up to consortia in the competition as well as the traditional large OEMs, the UK MOD is embracing growth in tech-oriented SMEs and their inherent cost-conscious approach. UAS technology and industry evolves so rapidly, it is imperative that our procurement approaches are equally fast paced to ensure new technology reaches the front line in a timely manner. Blue Bear has already begun to explore production and export opportunities in support of this exciting new initiative.”
LANCA is one of three critical Air Autonomy programmes that Blue Bear is leading in the UK. The other two programmes focus on UAS swarms and Urban Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR). All of these programmes will leverage advanced flight test and evaluation (T&E) facilities and processes that Blue Bear has invested in significantly throughout its pioneering journey in unmanned systems.
The Blue Bear Group unveiled its Mobile Command and Control System (MCCS), part of its T&E facilities to the media earlier this week. Gavin Goudie, Operations Director said “The MCCS will be at the core of test and evaluation of the Mosquito UCAS. It provides a common suite of tools for Military Users, Customers and Engineers to plan and rehearse missions as well as execute live flight trials with rigour and pace. It is invaluable for rapid and risk managed flight test and evaluation.”
Blue Bear are pioneers in unmanned Air, Land and Maritime systems. The company is a Managed Service Provider and a Systems Integrator with world class test and evaluation infrastructure. The company designs, builds and tests bespoke drones of different types for Military and Civil sectors and enjoys a reputation for delivering solutions to difficult problems in rapid timescales. Blue Bear has accumulated many national or world innovation ‘firsts’ during its 20 years of operation.
PROJECT MOSQUITO
At the launch of the Combat Air Strategy last year, the Ministry of Defence revealed the concept future fighter jet Tempest. The vision of the jet featured advanced flexible power and propulsion systems, a virtual cockpit, swarming weapons and laser directed energy weapons. Operated either manned or unmanned, it would be rapidly upgradeable and cyber resilient.
Following on from last year’s announcement, a new project to develop a novel unmanned combat aircraft demonstrator has been announced by the RAF and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
The RAF’s Rapid Capabilities Office has awarded three contracts to develop a technology demonstrator, named ‘Mosquito’, under the Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) programme.
The contracts were awarded in April 2019 to three teams led by Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd, Boeing Defence UK Ltd, and Team Blackdawn, comprising of Callen-Lenz, Bombardier Belfast and Northrop-Grumman UK Ltd.
The LANCA programme aims to explore the utility and feasibility of unmanned capabilities which can supplement existing and future Fast Jet aircraft, specifically those that offer substantial reductions in programme costs and development timelines.
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