Work is underway at the Combined Armed Support Command at Fort Lee in central Virginia to develop autonomous and semi-autonomous systems so soldiers can focus on defending convoys instead of steering them.
CASCOM is under the Fort Eustis-headquartered Training and Doctrine Command, sometimes called the Army's university. The idea of TRADOC designing the next generation of Army transportation is historically fitting, since transportation has been the primary mission at Fort Eustis since World War II.
Fred Wehrli, a CASCOM division chief, is developing requirements for convoy operations.
"When we define an automated convoy, it means the cargo-carrying vehicles may be fully automated or semi-automated," he explained. "But the command-and-control vehicles and gun trucks will always be manned vehicles."
The concept is flexible. Soldiers may sit in vehicles that drive themselves, allowing them to scan the road ahead for hazards or enemies. Commanders will also have the option to remove the driver and steer the truck through remote-control technology that could work from a few feet away to more than 100 miles away, said Wehrli.
Over the short term, planners are looking at a "leader-follower technology" in which a lead vehicle with a driver would be followed by unmanned trucks. In the mid- to long-range future — 2020 and beyond — a convoy could be programmed to go from Point A to Point B with a "human" connection only if needed.
Internet giant Google is developing a self-driving car, and Wehrli said the military will take advantage of that, when feasible.
"We absolutely will leverage off the industry," he said.
A related effort on driverless technology involves defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
In 2012, the company received an $11 million contract to develop and test a type of kit that integrates low-cost sensors and other control systems onto Army and Marine Corps tactical vehicles. The company is working with TARDEC, which stands for Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center. TARDEC is working closely with the Eustis-based TRADOC.
Lockheed's effort has evolved from one that can assist drivers by alerting them to hazards to one that allows autonomous convoy operations, said Joe Zinecker, director of combat maneuver systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
He said the technology can accommodate different types of vehicles in the same convoy – slow-moving trucks with faster HUMVEES, for example. It can sense hazards or obstacles in a more urban environment.
Next up: Integrating more complex maneuvers, such as reverses and K-turns, he said.
Besides saving lives, the driverless technology could pay dividends in the slimmed-down Army of the future. Reductions in defense spending will require the Army to trim the ranks, and driverless vehicles will allow the same-size convoys to work with fewer soldiers.
The enemy won't stop attacking supply lines, but the results will be different.
"Now the vision is to get drivers out of the convoys," said Zinecker. "You still might be losing supplies to an improvised explosive device, but you're not losing your son or daughter. That's a big deal."
©2014 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
