- General
- July 14, 2019
- 5 minutes read
US Army To Test Armed Robotic Vehicles Next Year
U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Alexander Milley U.S. Army photo by Matthew Moeller The U.S. Army has said it’ll begin…
 |
| U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Alexander Milley
U.S. Army photo by Matthew Moeller
|
The U.S. Army has said it’ll begin testing the use of robotic combat vehicles (RCVs) by next year. A month-long operational test has been scheduled for March next year at Fort Carson, Colorado. The U.S. army says the test will provide input on next steps to take with the use of autonomous vehicles in military operations.
The next year test will be the first phase, with two more scheduled for late fiscal 2021 and mid-fiscal 2023. The RCVs [built on an M113 armored personal carrier] will be controlled from the back of modified Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Next year’s test will involve two of such modified vehicles and four RCVs. Each modified vehicle will have a driver, gunner and four soldiers in its rear that’ll control a pair of RCVs to conduct platoon-level maneuvers. The RCVs will be equipped with 360-degree cameras and a remote turret, which crew members will control with touchscreens.
 |
| A modified Bradley Fighting Vehicle (left) and a robotic combat vehicle {RCV) built on an M113 armored personal carrier (right)
image: U.S. Army/Ground Vehicle Systems Center
|
There are three RCV variants adopted by the U.S. Army for this purpose — light, medium and heavy variants. The Army’s plan is for the light version to be transportable by rotorcraft, while the medium and heavy variants are transportable by Lockheed C-130 and Boeing C-17 military aircraft respectively. The heavy RCVs will have no human operators.
The U.S. Army says there are ongoing efforts to adopt AI to perform some tasks involved in operating the RCVs. After the RCV tests, soldier feedback will be adopted to improve the vehicles for future tests.
