They now face adversaries using increasingly capable AI to find and exploit vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed and scale. “As we continue to increase production capacity to support a wartime footing, L3Harris’ long history of fuzing innovation ensures we are ready to meet our customers’ needs today and into the future.” VisionWave has not recognized any revenue in respect of the purchase order and does not include the order in backlog. A “collaboration event” for the new proving ground effort is slated for mid-July where vendors will be able to meet with special operators to discuss their technology needs. Soldiers reported that every pound of sandbags or concertina wire carried by SMSS during that deployment would have otherwise been carried by hand, potentially resulting in numerous injuries to personnel. The Mission For some applications and missions, it is cost effective and reasonable to employ an “autonomy appliqué” on an otherwise conventional manned vehicle, such as a truck.
This combination enables the system to detect, identify, track, and defeat unmanned aerial systems (UAS), loitering munitions, helicopters, low-flying fixed-wing aircraft, and certain cruise missile threats while maintaining the tactical mobility required to accompany U.S. The Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) is built around the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) and is configured in complementary variants to provide layered protection against low-altitude airborne threats. Integrating autonomous ground vehicles into the MADIS architecture is expected to enhance the mobility, endurance, and operational flexibility of air defense units deployed alongside expeditionary forces. The award strengthens the Marine Corps’ ability to deploy mobile air defense assets with reduced risk to personnel while accelerating the operational adoption of battlefield autonomy.
Across the rotation, the systems executed more than fifty autonomous runs, including several missions that exceeded nine kilometers. Those gains are not glamorous, but they compound over time in combat formations by preserving manpower and giving leaders more freedom to focus on the fight. They reduced distribution time, eased the burden on soldiers, and created a smaller-footprint option for moving sustainment forward. It came from soldiers and leaders watching the systems perform simple tasks reliably enough that they began to treat them less as a novelty and more as a useful tool. In that context, sustainment was not the only mission that mattered.
- The Army has already been testing UGVs, most recently this week when the 101st Airborne Division used a six-wheeled robot known as the Hunter Wolf to transport cargo during a training exercise in Louisiana.
- The equipment will support the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s operational evaluations and capability development efforts.
- The ASSCM is a civilian unmanned ground vehicle developed in Yuzuncu Yil University via a grant from TUBITAK (Project code 110M396).
- The combat proven operating standard for the most complex, high-stakes environments.
- UGVs can “draw first fire” from adversaries—reducing military and police casualties.
SWORDS is capable of mounting any weapon system weighing less than 300 pounds. Shortly after the release of the Warrior, the SWORDS robot was designed and deployed. Talon’s durability is attested by one unit that fell off a bridge into a river; the operators turned the control unit back on and drove it out of the river.citation needed
Oracle sends force majeure notice on its New Mexico Stargate data center
Marine Corps through the Program Manager Ground Weapons Systems, in which the company integrated autonomous capabilities into the ROGUE Fires system. Autonomous ground vehicles offer a practical solution by reducing dependence on manned logistics convoys and increasing the resilience of distributed operations. Under EABO, relatively small Marine units are expected to establish temporary operating locations across islands, coastal regions, and austere terrain to support sea denial, air defense, intelligence collection, and long-range precision fires. This enables air defense units to disperse over larger areas while preserving command and control and reducing the number of Marines required to sustain operations. Integrating autonomous ground vehicles into the MADIS architecture could significantly increase operational flexibility. U.S. Marine Corps MADIS vehicles from the 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion are staged during field training at Fort Irwin, California, on February 21, 2026.
The Business Case: Transforming Aviation Operations
The technology combines artificial intelligence, perception sensors, terrain analysis, localization systems, and autonomous navigation software designed specifically for complex off-road environments where conventional commercial autonomous driving systems are ineffective. Vehicles capable of independently navigating off-road terrain can continue transporting supplies and mission equipment without exposing additional personnel to enemy observation or direct fire, while also maintaining support during periods of communications disruption. Maintaining these distributed positions demands highly mobile logistics that can continue operating even when communications are degraded or transportation routes are threatened.
One chassis.Many missions.
Ground handling operations account for approximately 10% of an airline’s total operating costs, making efficiency improvements in this sector particularly impactful for overall operational performance. Autonomous Ground Handling Equipment (AGHE) is a step up and refers to self-driving, sensor-equipped vehicles that perform airside tasks such as baggage towing, cargo transport, and aircraft repositioning without direct human control. These institutions protect the systems and services that underpin our way of life. The trials will help shape how the service deploys autonomous ground systems during future coastal and battlefield operations. The new configuration also includes enhanced vehicle capabilities and support for integrating different mission payloads. Each Mission Master SP is built around Rheinmetall’s PATH autonomy system, which allows military vehicles to perform tasks with reduced human involvement.
- The press release said ground robots completed over 7,000 combat and logistics missions on the front line in January, “reducing risks to service members and increasing mission effectiveness.”
- Although Overland AI has not disclosed the exact vehicle configuration covered by the production agreement, the company’s autonomous driving software has been developed as a modular solution that can be integrated across multiple military ground vehicles.
- This transition requires significant change management investment but delivers long-term competitive advantages through improved operational efficiency and service differentiation.
- Adding AGV training and familiarization within standard military training and doctrine would improve operational readiness and battlefield integration for a future fight, while maintaining safety for service members.
In the https://italy-cars.com/the-quality-of-car-cargo-transportation-is-a.html 1930s, the USSR developed the Teletank, a small tank, armed with a machine gun. The car was controlled wirelessly via radio; it was thought the technology could be adapted to tanks. Twenty examples were put into service with the 2nd French Army in July 1915. Typically, the vehicle has sensors to observe the environment, and autonomously controls its behavior or uses a remote human operator to control the vehicle via teleoperation. Tim Fernholz is a journalist who writes about technology, finance and public policy.
They incorporate the company’s autonomous driving technology and lessons gathered through more than four years of work with the Marine Corps. According to Rheinmetall, the vehicles represent the most advanced Mission Master configuration it has developed to date. The equipment will support the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s operational evaluations and capability development efforts. The vehicles will help the service test autonomous logistics and expeditionary mobility technologies. American Rheinmetall, the US arm of German defense company Rheinmetall, has secured a $7.28 million contract to supply autonomous ground vehicles to the US Marine Corps. Nine months of sustained combat use, thousands of miles driven, and dozens of lives saved through casualty evacuation missions represent hard evidence that this technology works — even if full autonomy is still a work in progress.
What’s Next for Autonomous Ground Vehicles in Modern Warfare?
Future Plans The U.S. Army is now planning a series of experiments for Early Entry and related missions in which robotics could play a decisive role, and developers anticipate that SMSS may become a part of that exercise. During the demonstration, K-MAX delivered SMSS by sling load to conduct an autonomous resupply mission scenario for soldiers defending a village. The K-MAX rotorcraft was selected for this application because, in 2011, it became the first unmanned aircraft system to deliver cargo in theater for the U.S. While the SMSS was not used in a fully autonomous mode in that deployment, it was used as a highly mobile and powerful logistics transport, essentially a radio-controlled pickup truck. SMSS has been used in a number of demonstrations and experiments over the last few years, culminating in a deployment to Afghanistan in 2012.
UGVs have already begun to be used in resupply missions where they are outfitted with ammunition, food, medical supplies, and various other necessary materials to allow Ukrainian forces to maintain their strategic positions. The exercise served as a multidomain training and experimentation center – Morocco, where service members tested artificial intelligence-powered and autonomous platforms, remote systems, and emerging technologies across attack, defense and mission command operations. More broadly, the award demonstrates that autonomous ground mobility is evolving from an emerging technology into an operational capability that will play an increasingly important role in future U.S. military expeditionary operations. Marine Corps air defense units with greater operational reach, increased survivability, and enhanced endurance, while reducing manpower requirements and limiting Marines’ exposure during combat support and sustainment missions. This approach broadens the defense industrial base while accelerating the introduction of advanced autonomous capabilities into frontline military formations.
U.S. Army Green Berets assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), survey the terrain during military mountaineering training as part of Exercise Diesel 26 at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Feb. 24, 2026. Solutions providers are expected to submit their capabilities for SOCOM review in the mid-September to mid-October time frame. The proving ground will http://emergingequity.org/2015/03/22/chinas-next-big-opportunity-in-supply-chain-logistics-container-shipping-by-rail/ enable the integration, testing and employment of “all-domain” unmanned systems, according to the notice, which cited directives to SOCOM under the Pentagon’s “Drone Dominance” initiative. Officials have selected NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi — a location used by special operations forces for training — as the site for the effort, according to a special notice posted on a government contracting website.