Autonomous Systems for Front Line Supply Tested

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Delivering supplies to the front line is dangerous and often relies on manual delivery through troops moving backwards and forwards under fire. US and UK armed forces have completed a first joint field test of robotic convoys. The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Ground Vehicle Systems Centre (formerly known as TARDEC), have hosted an experiment of prototype semi-autonomous logistic convoys, along with ground and aerial autonomous resupply systems in Michigan.

It’s the first time these British-designed autonomous systems have been operated and demonstrated in the US and is the culmination of a three year collaboration between coalition forces and technologists which has seen the testing of a range of driverless vehicles and novel unmanned aerial systems, according to gov.uk.

During exercises, a robotic convoy made up of several US and UK vehicles was tested in a number of modes, including a semi-autonomous one where the convoy followed a lead vehicle through a series of waypoints using leader data and their own sensors. In addition, the exercise demonstrated operation and mission logistics planning, autonomous and semi-autonomous load-handling vehicles, and autonomous last-mile resupply capabilities, as reported by newatlas.com.

Peter Stockel, Dstl’s Autonomy Innovation Lead, said the event helped the British and US Armies understand and develop the potential concepts of use, tactics and procedures together in the representative battlefield environments. “We have gained hugely valuable insights into the reliability and maturity of ‘state of the art’ technology and how to operate these systems as a UK/US coalition.”

This experiment shows how unmanned systems will potentially allow the distribution of supplies directly to forward combat areas with fewer personnel at risk and to allow them to concentrate on winning the battle.