{"id":34005,"date":"2019-10-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/15\/us-army-nears-competition-that-could-lead-to-robots-directly-engaging-the-enemy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:39:44","slug":"us-army-nears-competition-that-could-lead-to-robots-directly-engaging-the-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/unmanned\/2019\/10\/15\/us-army-nears-competition-that-could-lead-to-robots-directly-engaging-the-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army nears competition that could lead to robots directly engaging the enemy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Army is close to triggering a competition for both a light and medium robotic combat vehicle by releasing a request for product proposals before the Thanksgiving holiday, according to Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, the head of combat vehicle modernization for the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan is to award one contract to one company to build a light variant, and repeat the process for a medium-sized robotic combat vehicle, or RCV, in March 2020. Then each company will deliver four prototypes for evaluation and testing in 12 months from contract award, Coffman told Defense News in a recent interview..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army anticipates a large pool of applicants based on a recent evaluation of eight different vehicles on a course<\/a> at Texas A&M University\u2019s RELLIS campus, and because the response to a request for whitepapers for each variant was fruitful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caliber of vehicles at the physical demonstration was higher than expected. Companies \u201creally took it seriously\u201d and brought vehicles that weren\u2019t just \u201cmodified, off-the-shelf\u201d versions, Coffman said. Instead, the robots were \u201ccloser to purpose-built than we ever imagined,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army is focused \u2014 across all three weight classes of robotic vehicle under pursuit \u2014 on a chassis rather than a vehicle as a whole. The idea is to integrate mission systems onto a common chassis for each weight class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the heavyweight side, the Army completed a major experiment last month at Camp Grayling, Michigan, where four robotic versions of the M113 armored personnel carrier was evaluated for ground robotic capabilities. At the event, which will be followed by rigorous testing and evaluation at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, four robotic combat vehicles moved across the battlefield in a wedge formation. Soldiers controlled the platforms to keep them out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\t