France’s procurement agency the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) has announced a new “optional tranche” contract awarded to Safran Electronics & Defense for FURIOUS (FUturs systèmes Robotiques Innovants en tant qu’OUtilS), a science and technology programme that aims to develop innovative robotic systems for mounted and dismounted warfighters, Safran writes in a press release.
The DGA’s announcement follows field trials of the FURIOUS robotic system, carried out in late 2021 at the French Army’s urban combat training centre (Sissone military base). During this phase participants focussed on the modular architecture concept (hardware and software), designed to ensure the autonomous operation of any terrestrial platform, whether manned or unmanned. According to the company, Safran Electronics & Defense was able to deploy this architecture on three very different types of platforms as part of the FURIOUS system. The optional tranche announced by the DGA aims to optimise this architecture and make the autonomous functions developed more robust (tracking passage points, replaying trajectories, monitoring the leader, autonomous target homing, etc.) in more complex and even unstable environments.
JH
