Armed Robotic Wingmen Take Part in Exercise.

• Author: Machi, Vivienne
• Position: FIGHTING VEHICLES

The Army took another step toward its goal of fielding armed robotic ground vehicles that will fight alongside manned platforms when it tested its "wingman" concept at a major exercise this summer.

The Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, or TARDEC, demonstrated the so-called "wingman" capability, which teams manned and unmanned platforms to provide added lethality and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the field.

The goal of manned-unmanned teaming is to deliver lethal force while soldiers maintain a safe distance from an adversary and to "extend the reach of the warfighter," said Maj. John Dickson, assistant product manager for the emerging capabilities office at TARDEC.

"You can engage the enemy from positions of relative advantage while keeping yourself behind cover," he said. "The robots can go out and engage the enemy and deliver those effects... as opposed to having to put a human right there in harm's way."

But while the robot is delivering the effects, "it is a human that is pushing the button that pulls the trigger," he noted.

The exercise, Northern Strike, took place from July 29 to Aug. 12 at Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan. The annual exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard brings about 5,000 service members from 13 states and five coalition countries together to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of missions in a joint and multinational environment, according to the Michigan National Guard.

TARDEC is in the first year of a three-year program to develop wingman capabilities, Dickson said. The center is currently using Humvee platforms as low-cost demonstrators "so we can invest the money in the technology and not necessarily the platform," he added.

However, the technology will eventually be scalable, to include the Stryker vehicle, Bradley and Abrams, he said. If the Army continues with plans to develop a family of next-generation combat vehicles by the 2030s, the wingman capability would work with that platform as well, he added.

As manned-unmanned technology has matured, Northern Strike seemed like "a phenomenal opportunity" to allow a diverse set of soldiers to explore the wingman concept, Dickson said.

In the exercise, TARDEC demonstrated how a manned M577 command post vehicle would provide command and control for a remotely operated M113 armored personnel carrier armed with an M240 Bravo machine gun, along with an unmanned aerial system...