The British Ministry of Defence is investing £3.5 million in the Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) for the development of new innovative missile systems that will allow missiles in flight to communicate with one another.
Known as the Co-operative Strike Weapons Technology Demonstrator (CSWTD), the project, led by the Dstl, will explore how communication between missile systems can enable the weapons systems to work together and also improve the performance of current systems.
The project aims to increase the flexibility of missiles, ensuring that they can respond to changing threats and improve their performance. According to the Dstl announcement, the project will change the way the missiles operate together with an upgrade to the software system that allows this cooperative behavior.
The CSWTD project will deliver the foundations for future cooperative missiles, including hardware and software. It will also provide a number of systems studies to understand how cooperative missiles could be used in real operational scenarios.
“Currently, missiles can communicate with the launch platform but not each other,” said Dstl Scientist Charlie. “The aim of this program is to investigate how inter-missile communication and cooperative behaviors can be technically achieved to solve UK military challenges.”
The work on this two-year project began in April this year, and the new technology could be integrated into the missile’s smarter integrated network within five years.
