The drone swarm from Elbit Systems

Elbit Systems demonstrated the capabilities of its Robotic Autonomous Systems (RAS) for Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions within the framework of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Concept Development & Experimentation Program of the Royal Netherlands Army. This demonstration, which took place in northern Israel, involved the use of heterogeneous autonomous swarms consisting of the Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) 4x4 PROBOT and two types of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) including the VTOL UAV THOR. All were supported and interconnected by the TORCH-X RAS software suite (command and control application, autonomy kits, planning tools).

During the capability demonstration, various pairs of robots autonomously worked together as swarms and carried out three types of tactical operations. The missions included planning, navigation to predefined points, sector assignment, and the execution of various ISR tasks.

"We focused on demonstrating the capability of autonomous swarms using advanced integrated AI and algorithms, as practical experience with MUM-T capabilities shows that these are key to effectively integrating RAS capabilities," explains Gil Maoz, VP of Elbit Systems C4I and Cyber.

Equipped with autonomy kits and electro-optical payloads, a swarm of three THOR VTOL Mini-UAVs and PROBOT 4x4 UGV conducted a Point of Interest (POI) reconnaissance mission. The TORCH-X RAS command and control application utilized the THOR VTOL Mini-UAV swarm to monitor the POI and deployed the PROBOT UGV to complete the reconnaissance picture from the ground. All four platforms simultaneously transmitted real-time video imagery, while AI-supported automatic target recognition (ATR) and target designation capabilities enabled effective target acquisition. In a second scenario, two VTOL Mini-UAVs were deployed to resupply front-line forces. The two platforms launched from different locations, navigated to predefined places, performed a precise landing, and autonomously returned to their home bases upon completing the mission. In the third mission, two THOR VTOL Mini-UAVs carried an independent ground sensor (Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS)) and deployed them from the air. The two THORs, operating as a swarm, reached predetermined points and precisely deployed the miniature UGS Lonely Rider to enable data collection by the ground sensors, enhancing the ISR situational awareness.

The demonstration underscored the capability of the solution operated with TORCH-X RAS to integrate heterogeneous swarms of unmanned platforms from various manufacturers, equipped with their own and foreign payloads, into a cohesive operational unit capable of autonomously conducting synchronized multi-domain operations.

ELBIT SYSTEM DEUTSCHLAND online.