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Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace Corp. have partnered with the U.S. Army‘s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center to demonstrate a fully autonomous operation that used unmanned air and ground vehicles to perform several missions.
The K-MAX helicopter and Squad Mission Support System vehicle together demonstrated functions in resupply, target-acquisition, reconnaissance and surveillance during an assessment a Fort Benning, Lockheed said Monday.
“Fully autonomous capabilities… will allow service members to focus on important missions and remain out of harm’s way,” said Scott Greene, vice president of ground vehicles for Lockheed’s missiles and fire control segment.
Lockheed said its SMSS vehicle and the Kaman-built K-MAX used the Gyrocam optical sensor to collect surveillance videos as well as mobile satellite communications systems to relay their coordinates and those of identified threats.
Dan Spoor, vice president of aviation and unmanned systems at Lockheed’s mission systems and training unit, said such autonomous systems can be used in other applications such as humanitarian aid and firefighting.
