Dabbling with Heavy Load-Carrying Remote and Autonomous Extreme Terrain Capability: Proteus RAS DROPS

We were presented with the challenge of providing an unmanned ‘mothership’ equipped with a range of comms and ISR baggage, capable of remotely deploying and supporting a selection of ‘child’ UGV and UAS systems. Flash to bang for design – build – deploy: 3 months. Proteus was the natural candidate with up to 2.5T load carrying capacity on the stripped down mobility platform and a full-length DROPS (hook-lift) gave us the unattended functionality we needed to autonomously drop and lift the UGV.

Hook lift systems tend to be heavy and tight deadlines allowed limited time for optimisation, so we sacrificed about 400kg to the DROPS fit leaving a clear margin just short of 2T for the 1000kg of cargo we needed to lift and carry.

Digital Concepts Engineering waved their magic wand to rapidly integrate DROPS remote functionality into their Marionette RAS system and we were good to go. Tested and validated during workup with minor tweaks to optimise. Capability fielded and proven as part of the Jacobs’ [now Amentum] integrated system offering into Project Acheron 2024. British SMEs: innovating and delivering – rapidly, effectively, with enthusiasm, good humour and at low cost.