BAE Systems Australia Highlights TerraSense’s Role in ATLAS CCV Collaboration
Canadian defence AI and Australian autonomy expertise come together to advance automated capability for uncrewed ground vehicles.
BAE Systems Australia has highlighted its work with TerraSense Analytics as an example of growing technology transfer and defence industry collaboration between Canada and Australia.
In a new article and video, BAE Systems Australia details TerraSense’s role in the development and integration of the Automatic Target Detection, Tracking and Classification System (ATTCS) for the ATLAS CCV, an 8x8 autonomous vehicle designed to support soldiers while reducing their exposure to danger on the battlefield.
ATTCS is being developed for integration with ATLAS, the VANTAGE automated turret system and legacy platforms. The system provides capabilities that include passive target detection, tracking and engagement, passive local situational awareness, and passive detection, tracking and engagement of uncrewed aerial systems.
Canadian Technology, Australian Capability
The collaboration brings TerraSense’s Canadian expertise in artificial intelligence, edge processing and automated sensing together with decades of Australian sovereign autonomy development.
Kisa Christensen, Director – Integrated Defence and Autonomy Systems at BAE Systems Australia, described the partnership as delivering “speed to capability in record-breaking time.”
That speed depends on more than combining technologies in a controlled setting. It requires teams to integrate, test and refine systems together under the conditions in which they are expected to perform.
In November 2025, TerraSense deployed a small engineering team to Australia for two weeks of in-field testing, demonstration and system integration. Working closely with BAE Systems Australia, the joint team evaluated ATTCS against unfamiliar terrain, operational challenges and changing environmental conditions.
The deployment allowed the teams to identify performance gaps, recalibrate the sensor rig, refine algorithmic parameters and resolve a software issue on site with support from TerraSense engineers in Canada. ATTCS improved throughout the testing period while the sensor rig remained operational through temperatures reaching 35°C, bushfire warnings, hail and heavy rain.
From Technical Integration to Future Capability
The trials demonstrated more than whether ATTCS could operate on the platform. They showed how quickly a joint team could identify issues, improve performance and build confidence in the system through direct field experience.
As Cornell P. Pich, Vice President of Business Development at TerraSense Analytics, said in the BAE Systems Australia article:
“People were no longer asking whether the technology worked – they were asking what else it could enable.”
That shift is significant. It moves the conversation beyond the validation of a single capability and toward how adaptable automated sensing can support additional operational requirements, platforms and future development.
For TerraSense, the collaboration also reinforces a central principle behind ATTCS: defence AI must work as part of a broader operational system. Algorithms, sensors, edge hardware, platforms and operators all have to function together in unpredictable environments. Close collaboration between technology developers and platform partners is essential to getting that integration right.
The findings from Australia are now contributing directly to the continued refinement of ATTCS and future capability planning.
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