Joanna Crews
Oshkosh‘s defense business has received a $49 million contract for the installation of an autonomous technology for the U.S. Army‘s existing resupply and distribution vehicle.
The company said Wednesday the contract from the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center will support the Palletized Load System vehicle for the service branch’s Expedient Leader Follower program.
Pat Williams, vice president and general manager of Oshkosh Defense‘s army and marine corps programs, said the autonomous technology for the Army’s more than 25-year resupply and distribution PLS fleet will reduce the exposure of soldiers to enemy threats.
Work includes the initial integration of 70 autonomous technology kits to support the Program Development and Operational Technical Demonstrations and an option for an additional 150 kits.
The autonomous technology designed for new or legacy platforms is geared to facilitate manned or unmanned vehicle operations in teleoperation, independent or leader-follower modes. Williams noted that the almost 15-year technology development effort included independent and government-backed tests.
The PLS vehicle is built to independently load and unload various flatrack or IOS compatible cargo.
