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Defence Science and Technology Laboratory awards new contract to drive forward new high-tech protection system.

22/01/2024

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has placed a new contract through the Aurora Engineering Delivery Partnership (EDP) for a programme targeted to improve the survivability and protection of Land Armoured Vehicles in the British Army. Under the EDP framework, QinetiQ is lead EDP partner, and Leonardo UK is the Principal Systems Integrator. Leonardo will lead a team of major defence companies, under the name of Team Minerva, which includes: Thales, CGI, Roke, Ultra Electronics and Frazer Nash.

Composed image of a soldier and drones targeting a tank. Credit: Leonardo

Image by Leonardo

The programme is the successor to the Leonardo-led Icarus TDP, which was concluded in July 2021. The new contract represents the second development phase of the UK Modular Integrated Protection System (MIPS) programme for the development of a new pan-fleet active protection system architecture for British Army vehicles, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers, to handle existing, new and future threats.

Jamie MacKenzie, Head of Business Development, UK Defence QinetiQ said: QinetiQ is delighted that Dstl has selected the Engineering Delivery Partnership for this critical next phase of research. Specifically, phase II of the MIPS programme will demonstrate a significant advancement in the future-proofing of capability for the British Army in this critical area of protection systems.

Richard Muir, Vice President Sales, Leonardo Electronics UK added: We are excited to be working with Dstl and QinetiQ in leading the Minerva Team on this latest phase of the UK Modular Integrated Protection System programme. MIPS will be a life-saving technology that will also provide the UK with operational independence for a critical British Army capability.

The programme further develops the UK open systems architecture standard that enables the configuration of Active Protection Systems for a range of different Armoured Vehicle types. Targeting a range of threats including Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Anti-Tank Guided Weapons (ATGWs) and Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS). These layered and adaptable configurations provide the ability to reconfigure the systems for different operational scenarios and new and evolving threats out in the field, ensuring operational vehicles have the latest and most effective protection tactics for the threats they face.

In addition to the development of the open architecture standard, this second phase of the programme is focused on developing the MIPS Controller to TRL7 (Technology Readiness Level 7).

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