The ATLAS 8×8 unmanned combat vehicle from BAE Systems Australia, fitted with a Vantage turret, has successfully completed the latest series of in-house field trials. The Vantage unmanned turret had previously successfully completed live-fire trials in Slovenia in May 2025.
The ATLAS – standing for Autonomous Tactical Light Armor System – is an unmanned ground vehicle intended to operate with varying levels of autonomy. The latest tests included putting tele-operation, follow-me and waypoint navigation modes through their paces.
Further testing will be conducted in more challenging terrain, and the vehicle will be evaluated in scenarios similar to those expected in military operations. It is now at Technology Readiness Level 6, and the company said it could be put into low-rate production within two years if any contract is received.
The ATLAS was developed in an 18-month programme, transforming from a concept at the Land Forces 2024 exhibition to operating as a fully functional prototype demonstrator in just 16 months, shared Andrew Gresham, BAE Systems Australia, Managing Director – Defence Delivery.
The ATLAS Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV) is intended to act as unmanned alternative to provide direct fire support, obstacle clearance, combat reconnaissance and short-range air defence. It also has an internal payload capacity that makes it capable of executing unmanned tactical resupply.
The Vantage turret was developed in collaboration with Valhalla Turrets of Slovenia. Both the ATLAS vehicle and turret are BAE Systems Australia company-funded initiatives.
According to Kisa Christensen, Director of Integrated Defence and Autonomy Systems at BAE Systems Australia, the firing trials “delivered results beyond expectations and opened the way for future trials once reintegrated with the ATLAS. Following the firing test, the turret was shipped to Australia where it was installed on the ATLAS for further dynamic vehicle testing and subsystem integration.”
The Vantage is intended to provide a lighter-weight, medium-calibre weapon station suitable for integration onto not only the ATLAS, but a wide range of armoured combat vehicles. The turret currently employs a 25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun in a stabilised mount with 200 ready rounds of ammunition. The gun’s exceptional 70° elevation allows high-angle target engagement such as in mountainous regions or against aerial targets.
The Vantage incorporates BAE Systems Australia’s multi-spectral Automatic Target Detection, Tracking and Classification System (ATTCS) in its fire control system. ATTCS is a passive system that reduces an operator’s cognitive workload, offers more rapid target engagement and supports one-operator-to-multiple-platform control concepts.
The turret’s modular design achieves a very low profile reducing the overall vehicle height for a lower-centre-of gravity. This enhances vehicle stability and reduces its detectability.
Christensen further shared, “We’ve come away from this test firing knowing that the Vantage ATS fires accurately and performs exceedingly well, demonstrating excellent performance, offering our customers the ability to integrate Vantage with a range of crewed and uncrewed platforms, and offering a lower acquisition cost through the adaptive reuse of legacy cannons already in service.”
Last year’s firing tests demonstrated the Vantage’s ability to achieve a close shot grouping at up to 750m in factory acceptance tests. “These results exceeded our expectations,” stated Christensen.
The Atlas and Vantage are being offered internationally by BAE Systems Australia to military end users.
by Stephen W. Miller
