{"id":48835,"date":"2026-05-08T14:13:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/05\/08\/the-us-marine-corps-is-looking-for-a-few-good-robots-to-build-airfields\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:24:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:24:04","slug":"the-us-marine-corps-is-looking-for-a-few-good-robots-to-build-airfields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/industry\/techwatch\/2026\/05\/08\/the-us-marine-corps-is-looking-for-a-few-good-robots-to-build-airfields\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Marine Corps is looking for a few good robots to build airfields"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Marines who have toiled over assembling airfields in austere environments, relief may be on the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine Corps wants to develop robots that can do the grunt work of laying down the matting used to quickly construct <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navair.navy.mil\/product\/expeditionary-airfields-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\"><u>Expeditionary Airfields<\/u><\/a>, or EAF, in amphibious beachheads and other remote locations.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCurrently, assembling EAF matting is a manual process carried out by Marines \u2014 a task that is physically demanding, labor-intensive and exposes personnel to potential hazards,\u201d explained the Small Business Innovation Research proposal, which has a deadline of June 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project, titled \u201cAutomated Expeditionary Airfield Assembly,\u201d calls for robots capable of operating on \u201cuneven or unstable surfaces.\u201d They must also \u201cmanipulate and position heavy EAF mat sections with precision\u201d while enduring \u201charsh environmental and operational conditions,\u201d according to the proposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine Corps envisions robots with sufficient autonomy to \u201cnavigate and control without human assistance, which includes obstacle avoidance, path planning and grasping,\u201d according to the SBIR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contractor solutions will be expected to explore \u201cvarious robotic configurations \u2014 such as mobile manipulators and assistive technologies \u2014 for their effectiveness in EAF mat handling, alignment and interconnection across diverse and austere terrains,\u201d the proposal states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phase I of the project involves demonstrating \u201cthe technical feasibility of a robotic system capable of automating or augmenting the assembly of EAF prefabricated surfaced aluminum (PSA) Flat Top-Nested (Top-N) Trackway mats.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robots will be evaluated on metrics such as \u201cpayload capacity, reach, manipulation precision, power consumption and operational endurance,\u201d according to the proposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phase II calls for a functional prototype capable of automated or semi-automated operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe robot shall be able to handle the PSA mats in some manner to aid in the assemble of the airfield, be a closed system and able be able to operate in a realistic environment,\u201d the SBIR specified. \u201cThe system will be judged on feasibility, time to assemble, ease of use and overall size and mass.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phase III requires a deployable system for field testing. The SBIR emphasizes that the robot \u201cwill undergo hardening against electrical, environmental and cyber threats.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe resulting system must demonstrate sustained operation in deployed environments, achieving significant reductions in manning requirements, operational costs and\/or deployment time,\u201d the proposal states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine Corps has been working to ease the difficulty of expeditionary airfield construction, including adopting commercial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navair.navy.mil\/news\/New-Marine-Corps-expeditionary-matting-passes-test\/Mon-01242022-1038\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\"><u>lightweight matting<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, robotics companies are developing robots optimized for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsls.com\/news\/local\/2026\/05\/07\/virginia-tech-showcases-vr-robots-and-drones-to-improve-construction-safety\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\"><u>construction work<\/u><\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/bostondynamics.com\/industry\/construction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\"><u>four-legged<\/u><\/a> and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/engineering-construction-and-building-materials\/our-insights\/humanoid-robots-in-the-construction-industry-a-future-vision\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\"><u>two-legged humanoid robots<\/u><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For airport operations, Japan Airlines is testing humanoid robots for baggage handling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Marines who have toiled over assembling airfields in austere environments, relief may be on the way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":111518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":49,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,12,14,49,27],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3415],"class_list":["post-48835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-industry","category-land","category-techwatch","category-unmanned"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"UQGF7LYCCZHRBAMRDZ3TFAGPL4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2026\/05\/08\/the-us-marine-corps-is-looking-for-a-few-good-robots-to-build-airfields\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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