Cranfield University has secured a £130,000 grant for defence and civil sector research from Lockheed Martin Corporation.
The funding will be used in two study projects that investigate unmanned and autonomous systems — Swarm Eye, which will focus on sensors, and information superiority, which will focus on situational awareness.
The Cranfield University projects were identified for funding based on alignment with Lockheed Martin’s research goals. The research will be guided by Lockheed Martin UK, and may lead to a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) helping troops on the front line.
Professor Sir John O’Reilly, Cranfield University Vice-Chancellor, said: “We are honoured to have been selected to receive a Lockheed Martin corporate research grant. This provides further demonstration of the beneficial partnership between academia and industry, enabling research to be pursued and taken forward to achieve environmental and societal benefit.”
Added Alan McCormick, Lockheed Martin UK – INSYS Vice President and Managing Director: “It’s very important that we do what we can to nurture new talent and new thinking in engineering and working directly with universities is a great way to do this. Cranfield University has a world-class reputation in this field and we are happy to be able to help them with their important work.”
“This grant will encourage fresh thinking, fresh ideas and allow the students and experts at Cranfield to investigate some of the key challenges to the defence industry.”
