Nichols Martin
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has tested portable systems from CACI and Lockheed Martin as part of a program that seeks to help small, dismounted units obtain situational awareness across multiple domains.
CACI’s BIT Systems subsidiary and Lockheed’s missiles and fire control business have developed technologies for infantry squads to synchronize maneuvers and detect threats under the Squad X Experimentation program, DARPA said Friday.
The weeklong test occurred in Twentynine Palms, Calif., where U.S. Marine squads used the tools with autonomous ground and air vehicles in efforts to identify physical, cyber and electromagnetic threats.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Phil Root, program manager at DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said that squads demonstrated communication and collaboration even with limited connectivity during the initial experiment.
Lockheed provided the Augmented Spectral Situational Awareness and Unaided Localization for Transformative Squads system that uses sensor-equipped robots for enemy detection.
CACI supplied the BITS Electronic Attack Module that works to identify threats in electromagnetic and cyber environments.
The agency plans to kick off a second experiment early next year.
