The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory said Tuesday that it will start conducting initial operational analysis of the Aviation Concepts Environment in December.
The ACE was developed in collaboration with QinetiQ Training and Simulation to provide a virtual “hanagar” as a centralized repository of concepts from across the Ministry of Defence and industry to address challenges and capability gaps for tactical aircraft. The initiative is part of an MoD program designed to rapidly deliver new technologies to the battlefield.
According to Liam Ball, project technical authority for the Tactical Aviation CDO (Contested, Degraded and Operationally limiting environments) program, the ACE represents the first step of a concept’s journey toward maturity.
“Engagement is key. This doesn’t work without it, and we really need early engagement with the ACE for it to inform, via thorough analysis and testing, the procurement of kit that is needed to ultimately save lives,” he said in a statement.
The ACE will be open to Dstl, frontline commands and select industry partners. It is expected to become fully operational in early 2024.