American Rheinmetall Vehicles of Sterling Heights, Virginia, has been awarded one of two contracts under the US Army’s Small Multi-Purpose Equipment Transport Vehicle (S-MET) project (-> current news about the US armed forces) has been awarded.
American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ Uncrewed Ground Vehicle (UGV) will provide the US Army with a versatile and robust platform capable of efficiently transporting supplies and equipment over rough terrain in support of combat operations. American Rheinmetall Vehicles worked with leading partner Textron Systems on the project. American Rheinmetall Vehicles will produce eight prototypes in 2025 and deliver them to the US Army. There they will be tested and evaluated together with another company’s platform before the Army makes a selection decision for one of the systems and series production is initiated.
Rheinmetall has extensive experience in the development of crewless ground vehicles. One example of this is the Mission Master family (-> Rheinmetall presents its entire Mission Master portfolio), which comprises a range of modular, autonomous platforms for various missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance, drone defense (cUAS) and logistical support. American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ S-MET solution leverages advances in crewless technology from the Mission Master vehicles to deliver a UGV tailored to the unique requirements of the US Army’s S-MET program. The platform also utilizes many mature commercial components already found in the US Army inventory or in the commercial all terrain vehicle (ATV) sector. This reduces costs and increases reliability. Its composite structure and the materials used help mitigate electromagnetic compatibility risks. https://militaeraktuell.at/lisa-rammel-portraet-einer-echten-team-playerin/ “American Rheinmetall Vehicles is honored by the Army’s decision and looks forward to delivering the S-MET platform, which is particularly attractive due to its technological excellence, affordability and reliability,” said Jim Schirmer, senior vice president and deputy general manager of American Rheinmetall Vehicles. Textron Systems brings to the team more than three decades of experience in the design, manufacture, fielding and support of unmanned platforms in the air, land and sea domains.
The company has developed the sophisticated, multi-mission capable Ripsaw M5 and M3 ground robotic platforms for the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) programs. By leveraging the control architecture developed for Textron Systems’ RCV solutions, the team’s S-MET vehicle provides a commonality that allows operators to use a common interface for both the RCV and S-MET programs. This approach reduces the overall training effort and maximizes the investment of both program offices.
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