Babcock International has unveiled technology to control single or entire fleets of vehicles in a defense environment.
Called SwarmCore, it is an advanced software system made up of multiple networks to control drone swarms and other unmanned platforms.
It can be operated fully autonomously or by remote human control at a safe distance from the battlefield.
With the new tech, vehicles that are part of a fleet would be able to continue pre-programmed missions even if one of them is attacked. With this, Babcock said no single asset in the fleet will become a point of failure.
The technology was demonstrated at the UK Ministry of Defence’s BattleLab site last week.
Integration With Arqit’s Encryption Tech
According to the company, SwarmCore was recently integrated with Arqit’s Symmetric Key Agreement Platform for safer transmission of data to and from unmanned vehicles.
The platform provides encrypted keys to transmitted information, enabling robust protection against cyberattacks.
Arqit chairman David Williams said the ground-breaking tech not only enhances security but also boosts SwarmCore’s operational agility.
For Babcock chief engineer Brad Yelland, combining autonomous systems with advanced software that can deal with sophisticated cyber threats could be a game-changer in the modern defense landscape.
“Technologies like this give [defense customers] more control in today’s complex defense environment, increased performance and security along with the ability for their teams to perform tasks remotely with solutions that are quicker and more cost effective to implement,” he said.