Formula One technologies help U.K. military

Lewis Hamilton, the most exciting — and appealing — new speedway star, has problems with Formula One: He is accused of purposefully driving erratically during lap 46 of the Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday, causing a collision between two drivers of the rival Red Bull team (no one was hurt). If he is found guilty, he may be docked points which may well deny him winning the world championship. This would be a pity, becasue the 22-year old British rookie looks certain to clinch the championship in his debut season. He would be the first debutant to do so unless something totally unexpected happens in the remaining two races at Shanghai and Sao Paulo — or he is punished for his driving in Japan. While we are on the subject of Hamilton: His McLaren team managers would do well to let team-mate Fernando Alonso — if “team-mate” is the right term here — migrate from McLaren to Ferrari or even back to Renault. Alonso, last year’s Grand Prix champion, is envious of his own eclipse by Hamilton’s stunning success this season, and has done his best to undermine Hamilton at every turn and disrupt his ascent (Alosno is now leading the calls for deducting points from Hamilton). With team-mates like Alonson, Lewis Hamilton does not need any enemies or rivals. Go Lewis!

Why this dissertation on motor racing? Because defense contractor BAE Systems, more speficially, the Land Systems divison of BAE, is apllying lessons and ideas from motor racing in its effort to develop more secure vehicles for British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. These British troops are facing determined and innovative adversaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, which means that vehicles have to be modified very quickly when a new threat emerges. BAE Systems Land Systems has responded to more than eighty UORS (urgent operations requirements) in the last eighteen months, most of them involving providing better protection for vehicle crews. Now, motor sport has been identified by the U.K. Ministry of Defense as a valuable source of appropriate technology and rapid processes for this sort of high-stress, high-reliability, rapid-turnaround engineering. There are, for example, many parallels between the demands of endurance races such as the Paris-Dakar event and armoured vehicles operating in hot and dusty climates. “Car racing technology looks promising for refuelling military vehicles in dusty conditions,” says BAE Systems’ head of vehicle support Mike Pope. “And scout vehicles on ‘silent watch’ could benefit from the latest lithium-ion batteries, which are now lower-volume, higher-power and more reliable. We are also interested in low-cost LED lighting technology, with its low power consumption, and high reliability.” Note that BAE Systems is also interested in bringing its technology to programs such as the £16 billion Future Rapid Effects System (FRES). FRES aims to equip the British Army with a fleet of medium-weight armored vehicles with the protection of heavy armour but the deployability of lighter equipment. Against this backdrop, engineers and procurement people from BAE Systems’ Land Systems business met Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) members at a Telford networking event on 27 September ago to identify how the defense and motor sport industries can work together better. This is the second event in response to Ministery of Defense’s request to build relationships between the two industries. The first event was held in May 2007 at the BAE Systems Leicester site. The company says that the link with the MIA has already resulted in high-efficiency radiator technology being adopted for armored vehicles. Which brings us back to Hamilton, or, rather, to his sponsor. BAE Systems also has an eleven-year technology partnership with McLaren Mercedes which has resulted in important cross-fertilization in areas such as aerodynamics and rapid engineering.

The MIA, by the way, represents a range of motor sport companies in the United Kingdom from F1 teams to small engineering and consultancy companies. They supply advanced technology and dominate the production of cars and components to top racing formulae in the United States. Approximately 4,000 companies are involved in the U.K. motorsport manufacturing industry and its support activities. The engineering sector of the industry has an annual turnover of about ₤2.9 billion.