Roshel reveals a new SENATOR
The Senator CUAS, developed in partnership with Leonardo is a long time coming.
Its been two years since I first heard that Roshel had begun work in a CUAS version of the Senator. In that time I have been multiple new families, a reworking of the original, the company buying the design rights to the Mamba and about a million other variants.
Almost everything that they could have done, they did before this. That isnt a criticism mind you. I just find it funny that one on the docket for so years could end up being last in a long line of announcements.
Roshel is going to have a big week. Theyre bringing five vehicles to CANSEC and have set up both indoor and outdoor space to show them off. They are smack in the middle of the show, up there with the rest of the big players like Lockheed, Elbit and RTX.
Its a go big or go home kind of show for Roshel, and they've decided to step up with the Senator CUAS. This itself is based on the Senator Pickup and astute readers might be able to even identify some unique design characteristics taken from the yet to be discussed Senator SMP.
This though is not fully a Roshel product. While they provide the base vehicle the bulk of the actual CUAS system comes from Leonardo integrating their Falcon Shield system with the enhanced version of the Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar (MHR) on top.
This system is then placed onto a modular unit that fits into the cab of the pickup, theoretically allowing it to be swapped in and out if the role as needed. It wouldn't be fast, or plug and play but could be done.
Sensors and effectors are added as desired and the company confirmed that this configuration is just one of a multitude of different options. Both non-kinetic and kinetic options would be available as the company states in yet to be released advertising:
"The vehicle is fully interoperable with NATO command-and-control networks and supports joint missions through advanced sensor fusion and mesh-networked autonomy. Its open architecture allows future upgrades and rapid integration of additional sensors or counter-drone effectors. Onboard, best-in-class CUAS sensors detect and identify aerial threats at extended ranges; once a target is confirmed, the system can employ kinetic or non-kinetic countermeasures.”
I will admit that Leonardo being apart of this surprised me. Roshel has long had their own R&D division and indeed offered their own in-house CUAS suites. For a long time I assumed that would be what's offered.
Clearly though the company has decided to leave that to the established players. This isnt a bad thing. A bit surprising but not bad. Perhaps something they can explore at a seperate time.
Overall Roshel has a lot of new vehicles in the pipeline. I would be shocked to not see more discussed soon, even if variants. There is a lot one can do eith a.platform like Senator if only you put in the effort.