INDUSTRY WATCH
level mission planning tool to create an
autonomous ‘system of systems’, which
will help meet the many potential users’
aspirations for safety improvements,
enhanced mobility or reduced manning in
the future.
Earlier this year, Major General Jez Bennett,
Director Capability, British Army, gave a
speech at the International Armoured
Vehicles Conference and Exhibition that
included plans to invest a further £100
million in novel technologies, such as hybrid
electric drives, next year.
The H-ATMP is due to be evaluated by a
range of specialist users later this year. Such
has been the success of the project, Supacat
are now well positioned to exploit its worldclass
expertise in the selection, integration
and control of electric and hybrid drives for
high mobility vehicles and intend to apply
its expertise to other vehicles, such as its
fleet of High Mobility Transporters (HMT) in
service with Special Forces around the world,
including the ‘Jackal’ and ‘Coyote’ in the
British Army. It has already been applied in
the control of a specialist on-road vehicles
now entering production.
The step change in technology integration
and associated performance benefits is the
result of a unique collaboration between
the University of Exeter and Supacat, the
defence business of Devon-based SC Group,
funded by the government’s Knowledge
Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme.
a leading position in innovation for new clean
power systems for all kinds of transport.”
Steve Austen, Engineering Director and Chief
Engineer of SC Group, said: “The knowledge
that has been gained and distributed
throughout the project partners is invaluable,
resulting in significant additional revenue in
the life of the project and high confidence of
sustained additional revenue for the company
in this sector over the next few years.”
These two projects have meant two new jobs
have been created with two very talented
young engineers from the university, Matt
Harvey and Yash Katare, joining SC Group.
They will work on developing the technology
for Supacat’s defence market and to serve
the wider marine, rail, energy or emergency
services markets for SC Group sister business,
SC Innovation.
The original 6X6 ATMP was used as a highly
mobile all-terrain ‘workhorse’ since its
introduction in the 1980s, in both civilian
and military roles. It was a favoured
vehicle of the British Army and special
operations forces and has been deployed
to Bosnia, the Gulf Wars and Afghanistan,
among other international deployments.
For the new all-electric version, the
development team stripped out the
old diesel power train and designed a
new drive system using electric motors
also made in Devon by Ashwoods
Electric Motors.
KTPs help businesses improve their
competitiveness and productivity through
the better use of knowledge, technology
and skills within the UK knowledge
base. They are funded by UKRI through
Innovate UK with the support of cofunders,
including the Scottish Funding
Council, Welsh Government, Invest
Northern Ireland, Defra and BEIS.
Professor Smith, said: “The KTP provided us
with an excellent challenge to innovate a
new, cleaner electric powered vehicle, which
has kick-started a fast-expanding stream of
work with other companies in off-highway,
rail, defence and marine hybridisation and
electrification research. It’s catapulted us into
THE INNOVATIVE, ECO-
FRIENDLY VEHICLE IS
BEING DEVELOPED
FURTHER SO IT CAN BE
‘OPTIONALLY MANNED’.
Innovate UK manages the KTP
programme and facilitates its delivery
through a range of partners including
the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN),
Knowledge Bases and Businesses. Each
partner plays a specific role in the support
and delivery of the programme. •
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