Page 20: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2017)

(Photo: Thales Group) ing ? ve themes that were selected by ness. U.K. Defense Secretary, Michael

The mine hunting activities of participants: Fallon MP, commented, “The sheer

Thales Group’s Halcyon Un- scale of this exercise demonstrates how manned Surface Vehicle are • Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) our armed forces are leading in devel- • Information, Surveillance, Target planned and controlled through oping futuristic technologies to keep us

Thales mission management

Acquisition, and Reconnaissance safe at sea or in the air. This is part of software. (ISTAR) our new approach to harnessing innova- • Command and Control tion, backed by a rising defense budget, • Hydrographic and Geointelligence The 40 industry partners and inter- to ensure we keep ahead of our adver- • Mine Countermeasures (MCM) national allies showcasing the latest in saries.” remote technology presented more than Commander Pipkin added, “The tech- “We deliberately adopted a different 50 aerial, surface and underwater mari- nologies demonstrated in Unmanned approach to capability demonstration time autonomous systems (MAS) in a Warrior have the potential to fundamen- in that the MOD invited participants to range of demonstrations on the themes tally change the future of Royal Navy offer their thoughts on what future ca- of surveillance, intelligence-gathering operations just as the advent of steam pability might look like and where tech- and mine countermeasures. The collab- propulsion or submarines did. This is a nology could be exploited without any orative approach of Unmanned Warrior chance to take a great leap forward in preconceptions,” stated Commander is at the heart of the U.K.’s new Defense maritime systems – not to take people

Pipkin. “This recognizes that we do not Innovation Initiative and the £800 mil- out of the loop, but to enhance every- always have a crystal ball but are will- lion ($985 million) fund that supports thing they do, extending our reach and ing to look at the full breadth of possible the generation of ideas to bene? t both ef? ciency using intelligent robotics at technology exploitation paths.” the country’s defense and British busi- sea.”

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