Norway-bound K9 155mm artillery begins delivery journey - Army Technology

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  November 6, 2019 | International, Land

  Here’s the robotic vehicle that will carry equipment for US troops

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has selected General Dynamics Land Systems' Multi-Utility Tactical Transport, or MUTT, for its Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport unmanned ground system program of record. The initial contract for the eight-wheel drive robotic vehicle totals $162.4 million and includes support hardware, user training and technical support. The contract will wrap up at the end of October 2024, according to an Oct. 30 Defense Department announcement. GDLS will produce 624 systems for the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport, or SMET, program under the contract and will begin delivery in the second quarter of fiscal 2021, an Army spokesperson confirmed to Defense News. Four companies were chosen at the end of 2017 to compete to build the robotic vehicle that will help troops carry equipment on the battlefield. A team of Applied Research Associates and Polaris Defense; General Dynamics Land Systems; HDT Expeditionary Systems and Howe & Howe were selected to build 20 platforms each that were issued to two infantry brigade combat teams for testing and analysis of utility in the field. Polaris' MRZR X was evaluated as well as HDT's six-wheel drive Global Hunter WOLF, or Wheeled Offload Logistics Follower. Textron-owned Howe & Howe offered its Grizzly unmanned vehicle, which is powered by an electric engine. HDT's Global Hunter WOLF was recently picked, along with three other teams to include Textron and QinetiQ North America, to compete to build vehicles for the Robotic Combat Vehicle-Light effort. The Army selected those teams from an array of companies chosen to participate in a demonstration event in the fall of 2017 at Fort Benning, Georgia. Other companies that participated in that demonstration included American Robot Company; Lockheed Martin; AM General; Robo-Team NA; and QinetiQ North America. For the SMET program, the Army was looking for a vehicle that can carry about 1,000 pounds worth of soldier equipment. This equates to lightening the load of nine soldiers across an infantry squad. The Army wanted the robots to be able to travel 60 miles over three days and to be able to provide a spare kilowatt hour of power while moving and at least 3 kilowatt hours while stationary. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/10/31/heres-the-robotic-vehicle-that-will-carry-equipment-for-us-troops

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  December 11, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Stratolaunch’s Roc set to launch Talon-A on first hypersonic flight

  The Talon-A could provide DoD with a reusable, more affordable platform to test and validate high-speed components, subsystems and other technologies.

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  October 17, 2019 | International, Land

  U.S. Army Pursues Alternatives To GPS

  Jen DiMascio In its attempt to ensure that soldiers have access to GPS-like information, even when access to those U.S. Air Force satellites may be compromised, the U.S. Army is in the process of fielding an alternative system on certain ground vehicles. The Army began fielding the first iteration of the Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (MAPS), an anti-jam GPS alternative, on General Dynamics Stryker vehicles in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment this year. The service will field 300 such systems to the 2nd Cav this year, according to Willie Nelson, director of the Army's Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing Cross Functional Team. Thousands are supposed to be installed into vehicles in U.S. European Command by 2028. On Oct. 15, the U.S. Army announced it had chosen Collins Aerospace to provide a next-generation MAPS for manned ground vehicles. Collins will make MAPS Gen II, systems that will be evaluated for a year and potentially be fielded to 8,000 additional vehicles. The Collins Aerospace system combines the NavHub-100 navigation system and Digital GPS Anti-jam Receiver-100. The system adds a military code capability and modernized signal tracking to improve reliability and integrity, Collins says. The MAPS program is part of the U.S. Army's focus on modernization. But it is also a response to a request from commanders in Europe and Korea, according to Gen. John Murray, commander of Army Futures Command. The Army maintains that its effort to look for alternate means of positioning, navigation and timing is aligned with the U.S. Air Force's plans for GPS satellites. Asked about the threat from Russia, Brig Gen. Robert Collins, program executive officer for intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors, said the U.S. needs confidence not just in the ability of U.S. assets to withstand jamming attacks but to be able to fend off spoofing efforts as well. “The electromagnetic spectrum is becoming contested and people are operating in that space,” Collins said. “We recognize that our traditional GPS today is not where we need it to be from a survivability perspective. So we have looked at how to make it more hardened.” Along with those efforts, the Army has also planned an industry day for Oct. 29-31, as it seeks new inertial measurement unit and timing technologies. https://aviationweek.com/defense/us-army-pursues-alternatives-gps