{"id":55742,"date":"2021-04-19T17:10:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T17:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/19\/us-army-picks-5-innovators-to-help-increase-its-howitzer-firing-rate\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:06:54","slug":"us-army-picks-5-innovators-to-help-increase-its-howitzer-firing-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2021\/04\/19\/us-army-picks-5-innovators-to-help-increase-its-howitzer-firing-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army picks 5 innovators to help increase its howitzer firing rate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Army has picked five small business innovators to build prototypes intended to help increase the rate of fire of self-propelled howitzers <\/a>as well as in future systems, Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who is in charge of the service\u2019s Long-Range Precision Fires modernization <\/a>efforts, told Defense News on April 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SPARTN Fire Faster<\/a> project is one of three lines of effort in which the Army is engaged to increase the rate of fire and smooth out the process of loading artillery pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPARTN stands for Small Business Innovation Research-based (SIBR) Special Program Awards for Required Technology Needs, which is the contracting mechanism used to launch the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Army handles ammunition in an artillery battalion hasn\u2019t changed in over 50 years, a fact that leaves Rafferty \u201ca little bit embarrassed,\u201d according to a previous interview with Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five small businesses who will continue on in the program, chosen from a larger pool generated from a solicitation posted last year, are Austin, Texas-based ARM Automation; CR Tactical in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; San Diego, California-based Dynovas; H.A. Eckhart in Lansing, Michigan; and another Pittsburgh-based company, RE2 Robotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CR Tactical, a spinout of Carnegie Robotics, specializes in robotic sensors and platforms. Carnegie Robotics is one of three companies involved in the Army\u2019s Field Artillery Autonomous Resupply (FAAR) effort<\/a> being run through the Army Applications Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Fire Faster is focused on the interior of the Howitzer, FAAR is helping to solve handling artillery through automation across the logistics chain. The Army picked six companies to work on the effort at the beginning of 2020 and down-selected to three companies who are working to deliver prototypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Army cannot disclose the specific technology each company has pitched, ARM Automation, since 1993, has been focused on automated manufacturing solutions for a variety of industries, and CR Tactical is focused on robotic sensors and systems used across a variety of applications from defense to agriculture to mining among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dynovas has been working in both the aerospace and defense fields developing mechanical and munitions handling systems for over 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H.A. Eckhart is a company with experience in robotics and automation as well as 3D printing and additive manufacturing. It was established in 1974.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using intelligent mobile robotics, RE2 Robotics\u2019 speciality is helping organizations improve worker safety, productivity and efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this phase of the program, the companies will have 24 months to further develop concepts and detailed designs although some may finish as early as 18 months depending on the project, Rafferty said. Companies could receive up to $2.5 million in contracts or matching funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army will continue to use soldiers and users to offer frequent feedback to the developers throughout the process, he said, with resulting prototype technology that is proven at a component level or at a system level in expected operational environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the period, the service will evaluate prototype performance to determine next steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Rafferty could not discuss specific reasons why each company was chosen, he said a panel of evaluators, using a process that eliminates bias, looked at a number of criteria to make determinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel focused on \u201cconcept maturity, feasibility and the impact to reducing the rate of fire,\u201d Rafferty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army took pains to map its entire logistics and operational process to fire artillery in great detail for the companies involved. Once the companies fully understood that process, they had to clearly articulate how their technologies would impact that process, according to Rafferty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the Fire Faster and FAAR efforts, the Army is also working on its own, internally developed autoloader intended to be integrated into its Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system<\/a> in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\t