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The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence has announced a new partnership with British motor racing team McLaren Racing to explore new solutions across a variety of defence projects.
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The Ministry of Defence (MOD) and McLaren will reportedly work closely on projects such as the electrification of new military vehicles and future power options for the armed forces to increase operational effectiveness, according to an MOD statement published on 16 March this year.
One of the projects that may benefit from the partnership is the electrification of armoured vehicles (Project LURCHER), which aims to meet the Army’s intention to transition to electric vehicle technology.
To mark the start of the partnership, the NEOM McLaren Extreme E race car was shown alongside a Project LURCHER vehicle at the BattleLab Defence Innovation co-creation space based in Dorset.
Electrification could make military vehicles more operationally effective, including by using novel power sources to cut down the need to resupply, therefore reducing the vulnerability of forces in the field. Tech innovation can also help with increased range for vehicles.
“This exciting partnership will see McLaren Racing bring their world-class expertise from the racetrack into a number of defence projects,” according to Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
“By collaborating with industry, we will continue to drive innovation through knowledge sharing, which will benefit Defence’s engineering and operations across the course of the partnership and beyond.”
As part of the new partnership, the MOD will learn from McLaren Racing’s Accelerator team, who use their experience at elite-level motorsport to produce advanced technology and manufacturing.
“This new partnership with the Ministry of Defence provides a great opportunity to stretch and apply our innovation and technological know-how and a high-performance culture with a view to improving operational efficiencies across a wide range of exciting projects,” according to Matt Dennington, McLaren Racing co-chief commercial officer.
“Under the multi-year partnership, the Ministry of Defence will collaborate through McLaren Accelerator to apply motorsport innovation and insights to projects that are jointly selected by Defence and McLaren teams.”
In Australia, the Australian Defence Force have previously investigated the use of a Bushmaster electric protected mobility vehicle to support field training.
The Bushmaster vehicle prototype, which uses electric propulsion technology, was tasked with supporting members of the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, undertaking simulated medical treatment in Queensland during October 2023.
During the training, the ePMV was able to demonstrate its power storage and supply capability, enabling medical staff to work forward a role-two emergency hospital in an area of operations.
It’s understood there could also be applications to use the electric propulsion technology for greater thermal and acoustic signature management, exportable electrical energy, robotic and autonomous systems connectivity and tactical agility.
The ePMV was previously unveiled during the Chief of Army Symposium 2022 before being trialled and tested in a variety of conditions and by different units to test technological limitations.
