Lockheed Martin [LMT] and others in industry are awaiting the capabilities design document for the Army’s Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET), which is expected to outline three vehicle sizes and at least three mission variants.
Don Nimblett, unmanned systems business development at Lockheed Martin, said that he has gotten some information from the user community in the Army regarding the S-MET program, most notably that the Army is interested in having a small, medium and large variant. Nimblett said Lockheed Martin’s Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) would likely meet the large vehicle requirements, while the John Deere
R-Gator could fit the medium vehicle requirements and General Dynamics’ [GD] Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) could serve as the small vehicle.
Photo: Lockheed Martin
“We know that there are two additional capabilities beyond just the squad carrying supply,” he added, saying the Army has expressed interest in an armed variant and a counter-improvised explosive device (IED) variant. Other mission sets, including emergency casualty extraction, have been discussed, and the SMSS has demonstrated the capability to take on all the possible mission sets and more.
“I personally believe it’s going to become like the M113 the Army’s had for years and years and years – it does everything,” Nimblett said.
The S-MET capabilities design document is expected to come out in December, he said, and would answer questions such as what level of autonomy the Army expects. Nimblett said he thinks the Army wants both remote control and supervised autonomy, also known as full autonomy, though he isn’t sure if the Army will start slow and build up its capability or go after full autonomy from the start.
Lockheed Martin has conducted several successful demonstrations of its SMSS for the U.S. and international armies. Most recently, on Aug. 7 at Fort Benning it showed off the ability to combine its K-MAX unmanned rotorcraft and its SMSS. The SMSS was encased with a superstructure for lifting and a gyrocam, it was slingloaded under the K-MAX, and both vehicles and the gyrocam were controlled via satellite communication. Operators used the camera for surveillance of the landing zone before K-MAX dropped off its cargo.
“It went off flawlessly,” Nimblett said, noting the only real changes that needed to be made had to do with the SMSS superstructure, not the unmanned systems themselves.
Next week, Lockheed Martin will bring its firefighting variant – painted firetruck red – to the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service to test in a live burn. The firefighting SMSS has a remote-controlled nozzle that can shoot 150 gallons a minute, a tank that carries 250 gallons, and the ability to connect to a tanker truck or fire hydrant for longer firefighting operations.
Lockheed Martin is also negotiating with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) to conduct a third Extending the Reach of the Warfighter through Robotics – the second in the series of tests was the SMSS/K-MAX demonstration. The details are still being worked out, Nimblett said, but he expects that the SMSS would be armed and would conduct direct fire assault on a target while being carried by the K-MAX, as well as call in artillery support via its satellite communication equipment.