Teledyne FLIR debuts vehicle for Army equipment carrier competition

WASHINGTON — Teledyne FLIR is getting into the competitors for the Military’s mild tools service.

The Small Multipurpose Tools Transport car, or SMET, is meant to hold gear and lightweight payloads to make troopers within the subject extra nimble. 4 corporations competed for the primary technology in 2017, and Basic Dynamics Land Methods received the primary two contracts in 2019 and 2020. This system is now getting into its second increment.

Teledyne FLIR launched its prototype, the six-wheeled M2RV, on the Affiliation of the U.S. Military’s annual convention. It comes with 38 sq. ft of cargo house, greater than 2,600 kilos of payload capability, and the flexibility to maneuver at speeds exceeding 10 mph, in keeping with the corporate.

The mannequin has two connected payloads. The primary is its new R80D SkyRaider, a 10-pound quadcopter drone. The second is its 280-HDEP surveillance system, mounted on the rear of the platform.

Teledyne FLIR constructed the M2RV with a metal unibody, which will increase the energy of the chassis and can swimsuit the rugged environments the SMET might want to navigate, stated Chris Brown, a senior programs architect. Such a design additionally seals the whole lot beneath the cargo deck, round 3 ft excessive, he stated, permitting the car to ford our bodies of water as much as that peak.

“You actually find yourself [getting] to go wherever a soldier must go,” Brown stated.

To enter a combat, the M2RV might be sling loaded, or carried by a helicopter, and towed as much as 60 mph. With a full tank of gas and batteries, it has the capability to run for 100 miles, which is above the Military’s wants for three-day-long, 60- to 70-mile platoon treks, Brown defined.

For the SMET program, the Military initially sought a pure tools service to assist scale back the burden on troopers. Since then, its considering expanded, with the precedence now on the type of payloads the second increment of the car can carry. The Military is experimenting with totally different payload choices.

GDLS, Hanwha, Rheinmetall and HDT are anticipated to compete for the second increment, alongside Teledyne FLIR.

The SMET will play a part of a rising function for floor robotics within the Military. The service just lately introduced it was shifting away from its former framework for the Robotic Fight Car, initially divided into mild, medium and heavy fashions. Now the Military is just searching for one mannequin, someplace between the sunshine and medium sizes first envisioned.

Over the following decade, such platforms will add distance between manned and unmanned formations on the battlefield, stated Dave Viens, vp of enterprise growth at Teledyne FLIR.

“That car may be the primary first platform that engages the enemy earlier than a manned aspect does,” he stated, citing their mannequin’s unmanned aerial system for example.

Whereas the Robotic Fight Car might ultimately enter the combat alongside Stryker and Bradley automobiles, the SMET platform will probably accompany lighter formations.

The SMET car “is a really succesful, small platform, and we’re seeing a whole lot of worth with experimentation,” Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, the Military’s program govt officer for floor fight programs, advised Protection Information.