Second customised ground control station shelter delivered to BAE systems for herti UAV programme

Cambridge, 8th July 2008; A second specialist ground control station (GCS) has been delivered to BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies (Insyte) for the HERTI (High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion) Unmanned Air System (UAS) Programme by Marshall SV, the Cambridge based specialist vehicle and shelter manufacturer.

Marshall Specialist Vehicles (MSV) delivered the 14 foot shelter on time, to cost and specification in order to meet the timetable for rapid fielding of the system. The selection of the shelter was dictated by the transport modes, including C-130 "short versions" which will be used to move the GCS and UAS from location to location.

To achieve the programme delivery time and costs MSV dedicated a team of specialist engineers to the programme who were, in partnership with BAE Systems, responsible for planning, design, development, procurement, manufacture and delivery. This enabled the final product to be based on the latest 14' shelter whilst still meeting the performance and operational capabilities required.

MSV were responsible for the manufacture of the shelter and assisted in the build and assembly of the mechanical elements of the internal fit. The electronic and electrical elements of the shelter were designed by BAE Systems and fitted by BAE Systems at the Marshall's site in Cambridge

Commenting on the programme Peter Callaghan Chief Executive of MSV said "We are really pleased to have helped BAE Systems with this programme. It represented a really challenging programme with difficult delivery targets which were achieved by good programme management and team working in MSV and close work as partners with BAE Systems."

The HERTI system is a highly adaptable, fully autonomous, platform-based solution providing robust, cost-effective surveillance and reconnaissance capability to support a range of military and civil requirements.

The HERTI system captures, processes and disseminates high quality imagery. This can be relayed to ground stations, forward deployed units and command centres in a variety of operational environments with very low network bandwidth demand.

The HERTI system exploits proven air vehicle concepts, supporting ease of deployment and a low logistics footprint. System autonomy supports ease of operation with low demands for specialist resources.

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Notes for Editors

Marshall Specialist Vehicles (MSV) is the Land Systems Arm of Marshall Group. Marshall Group is a large (£750M) family owned independent group of companies involved in the automotive, aerospace and land systems areas. Predominantly based in Cambridge UK, Marshall Group can trace its history back to 1909.

MSV specialises predominantly in defence vehicle and shelter design, manufacture, integration and product support. MSV has three major divisions - MSV itself (shelters and specialist vehicles) Marshall Vehicle Engineering (MVE) (vehicle load bed manufacture) and Marshall Systems Design Group (MSDG) (UOR work, EOD, EMI, EMC, Safety Cases and Consultancy).

Recent Major Contracts;

Load beds for MAN Logistic Support Vehicle for MOD UK.

Role 2 Transportable Hospitals for Norwegian Defence Logistic Organization

Command and Ground Station Shelter Systems for Thales for Watchkeeper for MOD UK.

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