Right On Time: Automating Military Logistics

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition is seeking to engage with industry and academia to identify, develop, and demonstrate innovations that have the potential to deliver a step change in military logistics capability across the Maritime, Land and Air domains.

A total of £800k is available for this competition to fund multiple proposals, with projects showcasing their innovation at a demonstration event to be held in the UK during September 2021. It is likely that a larger number of lower-value proposals (for example £40k to £80k ex. VAT) will be funded than a small number of higher-value proposals. We are interested in technologies which can be progressed towards Technical Readiness Level (TRL) 6 within the time scale of this contract.

We encourage collaboration between organisations for this competition. To support this we have a short survey to collect details of those who wish to explore collaboration possibilities. If you are interested in a collaboration, please complete the survey and your details will be circulated among other potential suppliers who have completed the survey and are interested in collaborating.

This competition covers two areas of innovation: autonomy and automation, and additive manufacturing. Proposals which are relevant to either or both of these areas are welcomed.

2.1 Autonomy and Automation

Developments in Autonomy and Automation in recent decades, particularly in sensors and processing capabilities, have led to an increased ability for autonomous and automated systems to operate in a range of challenging environments. Dstl is seeking to understand how developments and innovation in the commercial logistics industry and conceptual thoughts within academia could be exploited to make Defence Support more effective, and enhance efficiency and safety.

2.2 Additive Manufacturing

Defence has increased its understanding of how, where and when to best make use of additive manufacturing capabilities, which has highlighted key challenges that Dstl is seeking to better understand. For instance, generating detailed technical specifications for legacy spares (where three-dimensional digital models are not readily available), and conducting Acceptance Testing of parts in-field or at deployed locations before fitting. The requirement for these capabilities at deployed locations, with constrained availability of space and skilled and qualified people, makes compact and highly automated facilities highly desirable. Deployed additive manufacturing has the potential to be utilised in the Maritime, Land and Air Domains.

The following supporting events are open to potential applicants:

Tuesday 23rd February 2021 – A series of 15 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Registration will close at 6pm, Thursday 18 February

Wednesday 24 February 2021 – An additional series of 15 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page. Registration will close at midday, Monday 22 February