03 October 2019

MAPLE C2 system expands unmanned exploitation possibilities

by James Rands

The United Kingdom’s Maritime Autonomous Platform Exploitation (MAPLE) command-and-control (C2) system has been used at NATO’s ‘Recognised Environmental Picture Maritime Unmanned Systems’ (‘REPMUS’) exercise, which was held on the Troia Peninsular and in Sesimbra, Portugal, from 11–27 September.

MAPLE is being developed by QinetiQ in conjunction with the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (Dstl).

The MAPLE C2 system demonstrated its ability to incorporate a variety of unmanned platforms during Exercise ‘REPMUS’ in Portugal. (James Rands)

During the exercise naval and civilian personnel worked out of a shore-based Marine Operations Centre (MOC) modelled on that of a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate. The MOC was running a stripped-down version of the vessel’s combat management system (CMS).

A MAPLE node was set up in an adjacent ISO container. The complete MAPLE setup can be moved on the back of a 40 ft truck. Sensor feeds converged on and were processed by a dedicated server.

The exercise has seen several systems brought onto MAPLE for the first time, including the Portuguese Ogassa unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and commercial-grade unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). The main aim was to test the ability of MAPLE to integrate varied systems under exercise conditions and a priority was put on variety over military utility.

MAPLE repeated control of the L3-Harris MAST-9 unmanned surface vessel (USV). This was first trialled with MAPLE during the ‘Autonomous Warrior’ exercise in Australia in 2018.

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