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LEON and the Corps’ Robotic Revolution in the Global Littorals

Monday, November 13th, 2023

Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. —

As the Marine Corps prepares to take the fight to the global littorals, Marine Corps Systems Command’s Program Manager for Explosive Hazard Defeat’s Littoral Explosive Ordnance Neutralization—LEON–integrated product team is working on fielding a family of systems to strengthen Marine Corps mine warfare capabilities.

Designed to address the concerns outlined in the Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment guidance, these systems fortify Marines’ mine warfare capabilities as the Corps continues with the strategic modernization outlined in former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. David H. Berger’s seminal Force Design guidance.

The LEON family of systems encompasses various capabilities, among which the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Remotely Operated Vehicle—or ROV—stands out as an integral component. This innovative amphibious, unmanned robot system is specifically designed to detect, locate, reacquire, mark to avoid, render safe/neutralize, recover, exploit, and dispose of underwater explosive threats in the very shallow water, surf zone, beach zone and littoral transition points.

This bleeding-edge robotic technology—along with its integrated family of capabilities—strives to secure safe maneuverability for Marines within the littoral regions, extending support to the explosive ordnance disposal community and enhancing the overall service proficiency.

According to Product Manager for Explosive Hazard Defeat Rick Daley, LEON is a tool which will allow the support of ship-to-shore and shore-to-ship lane clearing operations more safely and effectively.

“If we aim to conduct operations as part of a MAGTF or drug task force, it necessitates a World War II style island-hopping campaign, requiring safe access to the islands. Our adversaries will be trying to stop us, though. With the advent of the LEON initiative, the strategy shifts to ‘tech to avoid’—identifying safe lanes through minefields and enabling forces to securely land on the beaches,” he said.

This innovative new system ultimately aligns with Force Design’s modernization guidance, which calls on the Corps to, “acknowledge the impacts of proliferated precision long-range fires, mines, and other smart weapons, and seek innovative ways to overcome these threat capabilities.”

The LEON team has certainly taken the call to innovate seriously. A notable facet of the team’s strength is its proactive stance towards embracing emergent technologies, thereby fostering state-of-the-art solutions tailored for the complexities of 21st-century naval warfare.

This forward-thinking approach not only underscores their commitment to enhancing maritime operational efficacy but also positions them at the vanguard of navigating the multifaceted challenges inherent in contemporary littoral combat scenarios.

According to Daley, “It’s imperative to note that unlike many unmanned capabilities, such as drones, our systems operate fully submerged. Until the acoustic communications are fully online, direct communication isn’t necessarily possible. Therefore, there’s a need for either pre-programming or having advanced software programming to enable complete autonomous operation. This allows the system to execute the required tasks and then return to a recoverable location, which is crucial. Without such measures, we’re merely deploying assets with the hope that they fulfill the intended objectives.”

“If we aim to conduct operations as part of a MAGTF or drug task force, it necessitates a World War II style island-hopping campaign, requiring safe access to the islands. Our adversaries will be trying to stop us, though. With the advent of the LEON initiative, the strategy shifts to ‘tech to avoid’—identifying safe lanes through minefields and enabling forces to securely land on the beaches,”

-Rick Daley, Product Manager for Explosive Hazard Defeat

One of the ways that the LEON team has been able to gain so much success here is through the fostering of untraditional partnerships across the Corps’ – with a special focus on direct feedback from the fleet. According to Ronald Diefenbach, LEON project officer, this has made all of the difference.

He noted, “Our collaboration with [Naval Information Warfare Center] Pacific has been pivotal in refining our platforms. Furthermore, we had the advantage of having a Marine from I Marine Expeditionary Force, I MEF, embedded with NIWC Pacific from the program’s outset, providing real-time feedback during the development process. This setup significantly bridged any communication gap, ensuring our technological advancements are aligned with practical operational needs from the very beginning of the development stage.”

Similarly, Diefenbach noted how always picking the right contract vehicle for specific parts of the project helps save time—and ultimately—taxpayer dollars. And with the LEON team moving so quickly, the future of the program certainly looks bright.

This was exemplified in a 2021 exercise when Marines from I and III MEF conducted a littoral mobility exercise, showcasing how this bleeding-edge tech can be utilized in joint-force operations with the Navy.

The collaboration between the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3d Marine Logistics Group, 7th ESB, 1st MLG and U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 1 ultimately demonstrated the seamless integration of diverse capabilities to establish secure beachheads for amphibious operations.

The exercise highlighted the pivotal role of integrated capabilities in supporting naval maneuver, aligning with the tenets of Force Design 2030 to enhance real-time situational awareness and expedite decision-making in amphibious environments.

At the time, 1st Lt. Brandon Cavil, who then served as Littoral Engineer Reconnaissance Team officer in charge, noted the “exercise was all about honing the Marine Corps’ interoperability with the Navy, specifically addressing where we can provide redundant and complementary capabilities.”

Ultimately, the success of the LEON team is a testament to the foresight of the 2017 Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment document and underscores the growing importance of naval mine warfare as the Corps continues its strategic shift towards the Indo-Pacific.

This important advance in maritime technology has not gone unnoticed. In recognition for their efforts, the LEON Integrated Product Team received the Department of the Navy’s 2023 Ron Kiss Maritime Technology Transition Award, which honors outstanding achievement in the defense acquisition community for successfully transitioning a technology into a program of record or operational use.

By transcending traditional paradigms and fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability, Product Manager Explosive Hazard Defeat is not only responding to the shifting needs of the modern battlefield—it’s actively influencing the future of naval warfare. As the Marine Corps continues its strategic shift to the Indo-Pacific– guided by Force Design– the robotic technology that is being developed by the LEON team will play a vital role in navigating the dynamic and complex global littorals—ensuring the warfighter is prepared to fight and win when duty calls.

By Johannes Schmidt, Marine Corps Systems Command Office of Public Affairs and Communication | Marine Corps Systems Command

Posted in Guest Post, Robotics, USMC | Comments Off on LEON and the Corps’ Robotic Revolution in the Global Littorals

Milrem Robotics Presents a New Combat UGV

Wednesday, November 1st, 2023

Milrem Robotics, Europe’s leading robotics and autonomous systems developer, presents a new combat UGV. The new system is the combination of Milrem Robotics’ intelligent THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and HITROLE® Light Remote Weapon Station (RWS), one of the land turrets developed by Leonardo, a leading global Aerospace, Defence and Security company.

THeMIS Combat UGV’s provide direct fire support for manoeuvre units and act as a force multiplier. With the HITROLE® Light RWS which can be fitted with a 7,62 mm or a 12,7 mm Machine Gun or a 40 mm Automatic Grenade Launcher and is assisted by AI functions for target acquisition, recognition prioritization and tracking, they provide the capability to perform multi-role tasks like surveillance, patrolling, border security, counter-sniper and asymmetric missions. Engagement of the target is always done by a human operator.

THeMIS Combat UGVs enhance force protection and increase stand-off distance by allowing the operator to utilize the weapon system and observe, day and night from a protected position.

The HITROLE® Light RWS is a multi-role ultra-lightweight turret of which more than 300 units are in service worldwide.

“The THeMIS has proven to be the most popular and suitable robotic mobility platform for RWS integrations. Our cooperation with Leonardo and the integration of HITROLE® represent the next crucial steps in this journey. Together with Leonardo, we can offer a highly capable robotic combat system to the Italian Army and customers worldwide. This will significantly enhance warfighting capabilities and, even more importantly, contribute to troop safety,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.

The THeMIS UGV is a multi-role unmanned system that is part of robotics programs in various configurations in 16 countries around the world, including 8 members of NATO.

Milrem Robotics is the leading European robotics and autonomous systems developer and systems integrator, with offices in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the US. The company is known for their THeMIS and Multiscope UGVs, the Type-X Robotic Combat Vehicle and MIFIK.

Posted in International, Robotics | Comments Off on Milrem Robotics Presents a New Combat UGV

US Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center Selects Persistent Systems for 10X Robotics/AI Program

Friday, October 27th, 2023

October 25, 2023

Manned-unmanned teaming effort follows prior 10X in which company provided critical network

Persistent Systems, LLC (“Persistent”), a leader in mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) technology, was one of eight organizations selected by the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) to support them in the execution of the U.S. Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) Task Request 22 Robotics and Artificial Intelligence 10X Dismounted Infantry Platoon, a program set to end in a technology demonstration in September 2024, in Fort Moore, Ga.

Managed by NAMC, this 10X program aims to make Army infantry platoons 10 times more effective through the testing of select unmanned vehicles and other systems in a simulated urban environment—with Persistent Systems providing the data-agnostic, high-throughput IP communications backbone.

“We are very excited to, once again, be supporting 10X,” said Jeffrey Washington, Director for Business Development, U.S. Army/UGVs, at Persistent Systems. “We see our selection by the GVSC’s Dismounted Robotic Systems branch as a vote of confidence in the communications and support work we did during the previous 10X effort, which wrapped up with a demonstration in September 2022.”

During that prior effort, which had forces employ a mix of unmanned systems and other technology to cross an open area, the Persistent Systems Wave Relay® MANET established vital command-and-control links, while the company’s Cloud Relay™ beyond-line-of-sight capability helped developers remotely address software issues on third party platforms.

This time around, there will be even more equipment to network and an urban environment to consider. Still, company officials say they’re up for the job. “Our MANET is self-forming, self-healing, and highly scalable,” said Washington. “We’ve worked with a wide range of platform partners, and in the past, we have scaled up our network to link hundreds of nodes.”

Posted in Army, Comms, Contracts, Press Release, Robotics | Comments Off on US Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center Selects Persistent Systems for 10X Robotics/AI Program

AUSA 23 – SIG Showcases Robotic Systems

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

Producer of the US Army’s Modular Handgun System and Next Generation Weapons SIG SAUER displayed their new robotic systems at the AUSA Annual Meeting this week.

The system consists of three main components: Mule robot, Pitbull Remote Weapon Station, and NG3 ~~Mingun~~ Gatling Gun.

Chambered in 338 Norma Mag, the NG3 ~~Minigun~~ Gatling Gun is from Stone Horse, LLC, a Richmond-based manufacturer. It features four rotating barrels and offers a 2000 rounds-per-minute rate of fire. However, this can be tuned to avoid certain frequencies for aviation applications. The MG3 weighs in at 50 lbs with electrical box.

The Mule and Pitbull are products of General Robotics which was purchased last year by SIG SAUER. We’ve seen Pitbull in the past, which debuted with SIG during the defense products demonstration at this year’s SHOT Show range.

Pitbull weights 85 kg dry and can be configured with a wide variety of weapons and mounted to vehicles, robots and even in static applications as well as on a tripod.

This is the first time we have seen Mule. Equipped with band tracks, it weights 100 lbs with batteries and can be remotely operated or programmed to transit a predetermined route. Additional equipment is available to provide the Mule autonomous capability to assess and negotiate terrain.

SIG’s booth had a couple of other Easter eggs like this pistol equipped quadcopter also from their General Robotics division.

Editor’s Note: I called the Next Generation 3 a “Minigun” because that’s technically what it is, but the M134 is commonly known as a Minigun and this isn’t an M134.

Eric

Posted in Advertiser, AUSA, Robotics, weapons | 11 Comments »

NDIA Future Forces Conference 23 Poster #12 – Acoustic & Visual Stealth for Robotic Snipers

Monday, October 9th, 2023

Robotics and in particular developing weapons for unmanned systems has become a focus of DoD. This poster was presented during NDIA’s recent Future Forces Capabilities Conference in Huntsville.

Contact info is on the poster for those interested.

Posted in NDIA, Robotics, Suppressors, weapons | Comments Off on NDIA Future Forces Conference 23 Poster #12 – Acoustic & Visual Stealth for Robotic Snipers

Future of Human-Machine Integration Must Bring Right Mix of Robotic Elements to Formations

Monday, October 9th, 2023

WASHINGTON — As ground robotics and autonomy are expected to play a critical role in future warfare, four Army leaders will jump start AUSA with a Warriors Corner discussion on human-machine integration at 12:50 p.m. Monday, Oct. 9, 2023.

Michael Cadieux, director of U.S. Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center; along with Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Norman, director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team, shortened NGCV CFT; Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, commanding general at Maneuver Center of Excellence; and Col. Shane Upton, director of the Contested Logistics CFT, will address formation-based concepts developed with human-machine integration advances. Brig. Gen. Stephanie Ahern, concepts director at Army Futures Command, will moderate the panel discussion.

The session will be livestreamed on DVIDSHub.net.

Transforming for the future fight requires engagement across the Army and joint force. Advances in ground robotics and autonomy and the effective fusion of robotic systems into formations will provide new capabilities to help the Army achieve goals for multi-domain operations.

The fusion of robotics in formations is already taking place on the ground at various Army training locations.

“Soldier Touchpoints help us to help define future tactics and techniques for fighting with these revolutionary systems while informing future required capabilities for the science and technology community to develop,” Cadieux said.

“Human-machine integration is all about bringing the right mix of robotic elements to our formations to enable a total formation that is more capable than the sum of either the human or robotic elements,” he said.

Robotic combat vehicles will provide formation leaders new options on both the offense and the defense. The NGCV CFT has been at the forefront of robotic combat vehicle development and the experimentation that refines those vehicles.

“We’re already seeing the first robotic capabilities that we’ll be fielding, and our teams for years have been experimenting with the best way to integrate them into formations,” Norman said.

“We’re not sure yet what the integrated formations will look like, but it could require warfighters to control multiple platforms simultaneously, or perhaps multiple warfighters working different parts of the same system, or the flexibility to move between these two paradigms as the mission requires,” Norman said.

Robotic combat vehicles can accomplish some of the more dangerous and mundane tasks, such as refueling and for port logistics, while freeing up Soldiers to do the tasks that call for more thinking.

“Human-machine integration is fundamental to sustaining the future joint force operating in a contested logistics environment,” Upton said.

The integration of robotics into manned formations will iterate between doctrinal and training insights informing what the robots need to do and insights from experiments with the robots informing how doctrine and training need to adapt.

The Army has created a ground vehicle autonomy strategy built on a foundation of modular open systems approach, or MOSA, which will enable common unmanned maneuver capabilities across the ground vehicle fleet.

“Building a MOSA based, common approach to ground autonomy software lets the Army collaborate with a wide range of industry-leading partners while controlling current and future costs,” Cadieux said.

Understanding formation-based concepts developed with Human-Machine Integration advances is a key priority to designing the Army of 2040.

“The technologies Army pursues in the ground vehicle space drive at both robotic capability growth and in strengthening the interface between the Warfighter and the robotic elements,” Cadieux said.

By Jerome Aliotta

Posted in Army, Guest Post, Robotics | Comments Off on Future of Human-Machine Integration Must Bring Right Mix of Robotic Elements to Formations

SOFWERX – Family of Small Unmanned Ground Systems (FosUGS) Assessment Event

Saturday, September 30th, 2023

I’m pretty excited to tell you that SOFWERX, in collaboration with SOF Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (SOF AT&L) Program Executive Office Tactical Information Systems (PEO-TIS), will host an Assessment Event (AE) 04-07 December 2023, to identify production model solutions for general-purpose multi-role/multi-mission robot systems.

This assessment solicits white papers to describe the current capabilities of off-the-shelf robot systems in the 10-40 lbs weight range. Systems will be reviewed by USSOCOM stakeholders and Subject Matter Expert’s (SME’s) to identify solutions for future participation in the FosUGS indoor presentation/outdoor demonstration that will occur at SOFWERX to provide a pathway to ultimately conduct tests on selected systems for specific cyber, safety, and performance requirements.

Technology desired by USSOCOM is an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) general-purpose multi-role/multi-mission robot system in the weight range of 10-40 pounds that has some level of autonomous behaviors or capabilities which reduce operator workload and can operate in all-weather conditions within rural/urban environments. The system must have an integrated electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) full motion video (FMV) capability for day and night ISR operations and be payload agnostic to support additional payloads.

The 10-40 lbs range seems to be the one which the services are having the most trouble with. There are lots on micro systems out there (below 10 lbs) and loads of larger robots on the market but this small size seems to be a bit of an engineering challenge, balancing size, capability, and payload.

Remember, the robot is the platform and carries tailored, modular mission platforms. A robot with sensors, or weapons built-in becomes a screwdriver rather than a multi-tool and is less desirable due to its limited use. The image below gives you an idea of what I’m talking about regarding size. The larger robot is the Transcend Vantage and the much smaller robot is the Mini Vantage.

Program Executive Office Tactical Information Systems is a newly formed PEO within USSOCOM which combines elements of the old PEO Special Reconnaissance and PEO C4. It is responsible for Technical collection and communication, Integrated sensor systems, Sensitive Site Exploitation, Remote Capabilities; and Tactical Communications. Enterprise C4 systems have moved under the Director for Enterprise Information Systems.

To participate in this AE, submit NLT 20 October 2023 11:59 PM ET here.

Posted in Robotics, SOF | Comments Off on SOFWERX – Family of Small Unmanned Ground Systems (FosUGS) Assessment Event

The Ghost Robotics Vision-60 As ISR Platform

Wednesday, September 20th, 2023

A lot has been made of the weaponization of ground robots. Much of it is is due to our fascination with science fiction. No sooner is an image shared online like the one above of a robot armed with a machine gun than the comments about “Skynet” and “Terminators” kick in. But what is lost on most is why we developed robots in the first place. It wasn’t to deliver a lethal effect; there are lots of ways to make that happen. Robots were created as helpers, in order to remove humans from environments which might endanger them.

We’ve also got to accept a truth which is lost on many. The robot isn’t the capability, it’s the vehicle which delivers the capability. We desire effect and that requires various capabilities which come in the form of payloads. What makes various types of robots more desirable over others is how they deliver the payload to the right place, at the right time, to have the right effect. We use robots to reduce risk, particularly to humans.

Take for instance this image from last week’s DSEI show in London. We see a Ghost Robotics Vision 60 Quadraped – Unmanned Ground Vehicle carrying another robot, in this case an unmanned aerial system configured for an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance role. This combination may be perfect, depending on the operational environment. It may be highly lethal to humans and require close access to the target of the surveillance.

To be sure, there are definite reasons to weaponize ground robots. They can be used in overwatch for example, or to guard perimeters. But in each case, they are desirable in these roles because they take a human out of a threat environment. Recently, the US Army stated that it wants to place a Next Generation Squad Weapon XM7 rifle, firing the new 6.8mm cartridge on a Vision 60 Q-UGV. There are technical challenges which a couple of commercial companies have worked through, but it can be done. The question is, “why?” What effect do they believe it will provide? Is it the right payload for that platform?

During the Robotics track of next week’s NDIA sponsored Future Forces Capabilities event in Huntsville, Alabama, you’ll see a lot of talk of various means to weaponize robots. It makes sense considering the event evolved from annual small arms and armaments meetings. However, we need more participation from the ISR community in this event.

The air side of unmanned systems has taken the opposite path. Long dominated by collection activities, they’ve only more recently integrated kinetic weapons delivery to their repertoire.

I believe the best use of at least the smaller classes of ground robots is as platforms for various sensors, including ISR, CBRN and as comms relay nodes for these and others. Persistent access to items of intelligence value puts operators at risk. What’s more, the task is time consuming and boring. a human’s efforts are best spent elsewhere, like considering how to use the data being vacuumed by a multitude of robots fitted witg various collection payloads.

As a former SIGINTer and Intelligence officer I’ve been thinking a lot about how to use ground robots for ISR. There is a lot of synergy to be had between the air, subsurface (maritime), and ground robotics communities when it comes to payloads. We need more interest from the developers of sensors in utilizing ground robots of various classes as platforms and cross talk between the various warfighter communities.

Robots are coming to the battlespace. It’s up to us to determine how to best use them. Some will be armed and some will conduct ISR. Others will serve as logistics enablers and communications nodes.

We need to brainstorm ways to get the most out of our investment in ground-based unmanned systems. Soon, I’ll share a concept I’ve come up with to use Vision 60 Q-UGVs to access challenging terrain and environments to conduct Multi-Int persistent ground surveillance.

-Eric Graves

Editor

Posted in Advertiser, CEMA, ISR, Robotics | 1 Comment »