IF YOU TAKE ANY INTEREST AT ALL ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS THEN YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THE FACT THAT THE ONCE-HUMBLE DRONE HAS NOW BECOME A SERIOUS “FORCE MULTIPLIER”! EVERY SO OFTEN MEMBERS OF THE AA CREW AND OUR FRIENDS STILL GET INVITED TO CHECK OUT “THE REAL DEAL”, AND SO IT WAS THAT OUR OLD MATE RATTY AND AA LEGIONNAIRE RICH FOUND THEMSELVES AT AN “UNDISCLOSED LOCATION” TO CHECK OUT SOMETHING PRETTY COOL!

It’s not often these days that I get an invite to an event that’s a bit “Hush Hush”, but having seen what the day was about, I sent a quick message to Rich, as he’s the most techy person I know locally! Here we were, mid-morning on the hottest Friday since the previous week, making our way to a small, off the beaten track airfield in the Cotswolds.

Our route in, having gone past a static display SEPECAT Jaguar which gave a bit of a nod back to the airfield’s former life over eighty years ago, we followed the signs to where we were to be parked. Having debussed, sun beaming down on us, we eventually turned a corner where our eyes were immediately focused on the green Formula 1 car that was taking centre stage.

We were cordially greeted by members of staff from MGI Engineering, whose event it was, given our passes and it was straight into the “meet and greet” talk. It was very soon apparent that the F1 car was a hint at MGI’s background, but everything else on display was far removed from that scene.

A quick scan of the display area, we soon realised that this was about MGI’s cutting edge engineering for military purposes……. DRONES… and looking at various uniforms and listening to people’s accents, there were representatives from all branches, of not just the UK forces but from other allied nations.

It’s a widely accepted fact that technology advances so much quicker during wartime, mostly due to combat against what the other guys are doing, ultimately with the objective of winning the battles and being victorious in war. To that end, Britain has been either at the forefront or heavily involved in technological advances through necessity and many which have gone onto to be part of modern day to day life. Think of things like the Maxim and Vickers Machine Guns, the Tank, Radar, Jet Engines, Atomic Power, Rockets & Missiles… the list goes on.

Much rarer, though, is that something that is already an existing civilian item, usually from a hobby/leisure activity then gets adapted for military service. A big one would be the aeroplane, but even simpler things like skater helmets for head protection that have over the years have been morphed and militarised into FAST helmets and the like…. much more recently drones, which are now on the frontline, on water, land, and in the air.

UAVs have been around for a good twentyplus years but it’s been the recent war in Ukraine which has seen the biggest development in relatively cheap drone capability for military use. Some for reconnaissance, some dropping small explosives/artillery rounds onto soft skinned and lightly armoured vehicles, which resemble drones your kid would play with, up to commercial drones being re-purposed to take on bigger targets. Drones have already changed the face of the modern battlefield and bring fear to those who will potentially be on the receiving end. As a former tank crewman it’s been a wake-up call for designers/engineers as to how to combat this new threat. Anyway I digress…

Scene Setting

So, who are MGI and how do they fit into all of this??

MGI Engineering, founded in 2003 by Mike Gascoyne, was initially called MGI Motorsport, established originally to leverage Mike’s extensive 25+ years of experience in F1 to provide a consultancy based high-performance engineering

“A QUICK SCAN OF THE DISPLAY AREA, WE SOON REALISED THAT THIS WAS ABOUT MGI’S CUTTING EDGE ENGINEERING FOR MILITARY PURPOSES……. DRONES… AND LOOKING AT VARIOUS UNIFORMS AND LISTENING TO PEOPLE’S ACCENTS, THERE WERE REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALL BRANCHES, OF NOT JUST THE UK FORCES” solutions. However, over the years, the company expanded and looked beyond motorsport into other areas where the same high-end precision engineering was required. The company rebranded as MGI Engineering to reflect its much broader scope, which now includes the marine and aviation industries whilst still retaining a strong presence in the automotive world.

Mikes experience in F1engineering is second to none; in 1989 he joined Mclaren as head of aerodynamics, within a year he had moved to Tyrell. His talents were soon recognised and in 1991 he followed his good friend, designer Harvey Postelthwait, to Sauber, to help design their first F1 Car. 1998 saw him join Jordan Grand prix as Technical Director, then in 2001, he moved to Benetton, which became Renault F1, overseeing some significant improvements which saw them win the 2005 and 2006 Championships.

In 2009, as MGI, they founded Lotus Racing F1 Team and designed the 2010 challenge car. The team later rebranded as Caterham F1 and in 2013 they supported Caterham Groups first-ever entry in Le-Mans!

Branching out from F1, MGI Engineering became a fully independent engineering consultancy, applying its cutting-edge F1 technology and experienced staff to provide engineering services into mainstream applications; motorsports, automotive, marine, aerospace, defence sectors as well as renewable energy fields.

A Day To Remember

This day, however, was all about their drones, both air and marine! Whilst they can be utilized for civilian/ commercial purposes, these were set up for the defence applications. There were examples on display for us to chat to the team about, but the highlight of the day was to see the first run of their new “SkyShark”… more on that shortly.

Defence increasingly requires scalable, low-unit-cost, autonomous platforms that can operate effectively in denied or highly contested electronic environments. With their F1 methodologies, MGI are delivering rapid design, prototyping and manufacturing of such systems to assist their clients meet their specific requirements. As operational circumstances can change rapidly, again they are able to respond to these within a matter of weeks, not months.

The first thing that caught our attention was from the marine side of life, called “SeaGlide”. This is an electric, long-range, high payload (from 100 – 250kg) autonomous delivery system with a design to revolutionise maritime logistics. Available in 4m, 5m or 6m options, it offers unparalleled efficiency and reliability transporting its substantial cargo over long distances, up to 200km, without any human intervention, using advanced navigation and safety features, even in challenging sea conditions. There is also a hybrid propulsion system which extends the range up to 500km!

Next we viewed their “R10”, which, for me, is what I called a “classic” drone. Mainly designed for use in urban environments, it has a 25km range and can carry a payload of 5 -20kg, which can be supplies or munitions. With its rapid launch eVTOL technology, and its four electric tilt rotors, it can travel at speeds of up to 50 knots, but hover even in exceptional winds allowing pinpoint delivery of its payload. It’s autonomous and has pre-programmed navigation. What I really liked is it designed to also work in conjunction with “SeaGlide” which can piggy-back it across a body of water within its range with the “R10” then being deployed to its final destination to deliver its payload.

From there, we moved onto the “Mosquito”… which you could say is the Thunderbird 2 of their range. This is a proper beast, bringing the advantages of eVTOL with the performance of winged flight, this can transition between the two modes so quickly in flight. With a really low acoustic signature, each rotor can be controlled independently, whilst its autonomous flight system allows it to have pre-planned navigation in case of being in a GPS Blackout area.

With a payload of up to 100kg, this multirole airframe can be used for cargo resupply, reconnaissance, communications including being a mothership in contested airspace, as well having a very capable strike capability, whilst being to switch between these roles in a short space of time.

So, the piece de resistance, the “SkyShark”, which is what we had all come to see!

With a choice of electric or jet powerpacks, this thing is purposeful, with one role to carry out… strike at the enemy with either explosives or EW products!

As the name suggests, it looks proper mean and nasty! This is MGI’s answer to the growing requirement for a rapid autonomous strike solution. It features a rapid launch capability either by catapult or an exceedingly short take off, which was well demonstrated on the runway with both power plant variants!

Made of light composite materials, it’s this that adds to its agility. A range of 250km with a 20kg payload, this thing can fly at subsonic speeds of up to 450kmh at low altitudes. Once again, it can be preprogrammed for navigation and can use terrain mapping in GPS denied areas. It was the first time that they had tested the electric powerplant version so there were a few department heads holding their breath on its maiden run! No need to worry though, the “SkyShark” performed amazingly up and down the runway. The

“DEFENCE INCREASINGLY REQUIRES SCALABLE, LOW-UNIT-COST, AUTONOMOUS PLATFORMS THAT CAN OPERATE EFFECTIVELY IN DENIED OR HIGHLY CONTESTED ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENTS. WITH THEIR F1 METHODOLOGIES, MGI ARE DELIVERING RAPID DESIGN, PROTOTYPING AND MANUFACTURING OF SUCH SYSTEMS” jet version is enough to strike fear into you as you can guess where it’s going to hit, but the electric version was so silent, you would not know that it’s even coming and, by the time you did, it’s already far too late!

NEXT GEN… ALREADY!

There is another model (which wasn’t there) which is the next level, called the “TigerShark”. If what we saw on the day was anything to go by and looking at the specs of it, it’s a mini cruise missile in terms of looks, performance and a massive payload but at a fraction of the price. MGI are creating their own market as, to my knowledge, there is nothing else like it!

Rich and I left at the end of a great and informative day, feeling we had seen the next evolution of not just drones used in warfare, but in the face of warfare itself. It’s easy to see how all those years and expertise in F1 is transferrable into other high-end, high-tech precision sectors to create a range of mission specific and multirole products.

A massive thanks to Mike and all the crew at MGI Engineering, not just for inviting us visit but also spending their time conversing with us. Its very easy to see how passionate the guys and girls are about what they do, which ultimately means that their products will save lives for the guys on the ground no matter what theatre of operation they are working in.

Bill has assured me that in running this article outlining the real-world applications as a “scene setter” that he’s already pulling together further pieces on how drone technology can be used in an airsoft setting. So, as he always says, “watch this space”! AA