1 novembre 2019 | International, Terrestre
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.
15 juillet 2024 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
With this framework the MoD plans to accelerate the development of a sovereign hypersonic capability to support the UK’s defence force. MoD has selected 90 companies to contribute the necessary...
11 septembre 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Justin Lynch As hackers become more sophisticated, the top IT officer at the Department of Homeland Security says he needs better mobile security features compared to other U.S. government agencies. The Department of Homeland Security “really operates differently than [the Department of Defense]. We are a very mobile organization, so my attack vectors are out there,” said John Zangardi during the Billington Cybersecurity summit Sept. 7. “We are out there on our mobile devices all day long, and that's not the case with DoD.” Zangardi would know. He previously served as the Pentagon's acting chief information officer from October 2016 to November 2017. In the 2017 Homeland Security industry guide, which lays out the department's investment opportunities, the agency said it was looking to secure communication systems and monitor cyberthreats in mobile devices. Homeland Security has also invested in research to ensure Android phones are secure and is planning to study end-to-end cellphone call encryption. Zangardi said the IT industry is going through an “inflection point” that is being driven by a faster rate of innovation, bolstered digital threats from nation-states and a greater demand for consumer expectations. Full article: https://www.fifthdomain.com/civilian/dhs/2018/09/10/why-dhs-needs-better-mobile-security-than-other-agencies
17 septembre 2024 | International, C4ISR
A Hezbollah official said the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded, killing at least two of its members.