UK Ministry of Defence
Recognising our history of innovation to protect UK troops
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We have been at the forefront of protecting UK troops and our society for over 80 years. We do so through our ingenuity and our proven ability to innovate at the pace of relevance.
In 2010, we delivered an award-winning contract for the UK Ministry Defence (MOD) to develop a ground-breaking vehicle-based improvised explosive device detection system.
We have recently brought one of the last remaining ‘Panama’ vehicles back to where it was developed, at our Global Innovation and Technology Centre.
Panama is an important piece of GITC's heritage and it's great to see one of the original vehicles back where it was designed. We're incredibly proud of our work delivering end to end innovation to protect our troops. We've been doing this for 80 years and are still doing it today.”
Protecting UK troops
Back in 2010, together with the MOD and key industry partners, we developed ‘Panama’, a ground-breaking vehicle-based improvised explosive device (IED) detection system that has saved lives in Afghanistan.
The ask was to urgently develop a vital new capability to protect UK troops in Afghanistan from IEDs hidden below road surfaces.
Our main challenge was to find a middle path between bespoke and off-the-shelf options. While off-the-shelf solutions existed, they were only for use in manned vehicles, and customising an unmanned solution within the required timescale of under a year looked impossible. The solution was to use obsolete ‘Snatch’ Land Rovers – 200 of which were awaiting disposal by the MOD – together with a proven IED-detection system
Together we have achieved results that many, both within and outside of the team, thought impossible at the outset.”
Transforming vehicles into lifesaving IED detection units
The unmanned Panama capability has kept crews out of harm’s way and protected troops' lives. Routes could be searched for IEDs at least 10 times faster. Panama took just 11 months to move from investment decision to operational use and has achieved £17 million of savings.
In recognition of our work with the MOD on Panama, we won the 2012 Platinum ‘best overall project’ award and the Innovation award at the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Awards.
Peter Smith, one of the judges of the awards, commented: "The judging team I was part of thought it was an outstanding project in its category, but I didn’t know till the event that it was also awarded the overall top prize. Despite strong competition, it was outstanding. It relates to a project to convert obsolete military vehicles into what are effectively remote-controlled “improvised explosive device” detection units for use in Afghanistan.
The comprehensive skills and experience of the PA team helped us execute the role with confidence.”
Image © Crown 2012
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