Low Signature Vehicle to Carry Heavy Loads at Battlefield

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The roar of vehicles is as expected a part of modern combat, but noise signature might endanger troops. Electrical engines are quiet, and especially against the din of battle, the softer sounds of a humming electrical engine can achieve something like stealth.

In this light, Textron’s Grizzly unmanned ground vehicle could serve as a low signature vehicle on future battlefields.

The Grizzly is a tracked vehicle powered by a hybrid diesel-electric engine, and aimed at the Army’s “Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport” (SMET) program. The system is a mule-drawn cart in function if not form, a tracked platform built to lighten the loads of the soldiers it accompanies into battle.

For the SMET program, the US Army wants a vehicle that can carry about 1,000 pounds worth of soldier equipment — likely lightening the loads of nine soldiers across an infantry squad. The program wants the robots to be able to travel 60 miles over three days. The Grizzly performed a 60-mile trek in less than half the time required.

The Army is set to makes is selections in the SMET program next month. Textron is optimistic about its robot’s chances. There remains the chance that the Army will decide the technology just isn’t there yet for any machine, and hold off on any of the robots for the near future.

Infantry is quieter than most, and if a SMET-selected robot, like perhaps the Grizzly, can operate electrically at the same volume or quieter than the soldiers around it, that’s a boon, according to c4isrnet.com.