Task Force RAPSTONE
British Army fast-track procurement mechanism for uncrewed ground vehicles; awarded ARX the GEREON contract.
Task Force RAPSTONE, the British Army's fast-track procurement route for ground robots, awarded German firm ARX Robotics its first GEREON contract in April 2026, backing a GBP45 million UK production line built with Devon manufacturer Supacat.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How did the British Army give a German robot maker a UK factory contract in under a year?
Timeline for Task Force RAPSTONE
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Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaAwarded the GEREON contract to ARX Robotics UK in April 2026
Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea: ARX builds British Army robot lineBackground
Task Force RAPSTONE is a fast-procurement route within the British Army's acquisition organisation, scoped specifically for uncrewed ground vehicles. It is designed to compress the timeline from requirement to contract by constraining programme scope and bypassing the extended staff-work phases that produced the Ajax armoured vehicle's decade-long remediation saga.
Its approach favours in-country manufacturing over the nationality of the prime contractor: European SMEs can win awards through UK assembly partnerships rather than by registering as British companies, a route that has drawn German firm ARX Robotics into building ground robots on British soil via its Devon partner Supacat.
That model, procurement volume driving domestic industrial footprint, is the pattern the mechanism is designed to repeat for further uncrewed ground vehicle awards, rather than a one-off contract.
RAPSTONE fast-tracks its first UGV award
Task Force RAPSTONE awarded ARX Robotics UK the British Army's first GEREON uncrewed ground vehicle contract in April 2026, its most prominent award since the fast-track mechanism was created. The contract backs a GBP45 million UK production line with capacity for up to 1,800 units a year and at least 90 skilled jobs, with Devon firm Supacat as manufacturing partner.
The award was made for GEREON vehicles configured for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads supporting the Army's Recce-Strike experimentation, and stands as the clearest test yet of whether RAPSTONE's fast-track route can scale beyond a single flagship contract.
How does the British Army fast-track robot procurement work?
What contract did Task Force RAPSTONE award to ARX Robotics?
