Lockheed Martin’s Autonomous Mobility Applique System has logged more than 55,000 miles in testing during the U.S. Army’s Extended Warfighter Experiment at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Bliss, Texas.

The AMAS kit consists of sensors, actuators, and controls that can be installed on nearly any military tactical wheeled vehicle. The system provides driver warning, assistance, and semi-autonomous leader/follower capability, designed to improve safety for convoys in a military setting.

The system can reduce manpower needed for convoy operations, freeing up soldiers for other tasks and removing them from exposure to improvised explosive devices and other enemy activity while on resupply missions, says the company.

The testing was conducted by soldiers and Lockheed Martin personnel over several months at two major military installations in a variety of mission scenarios, explained Kathryn Hasse, Combat Manuever Systems director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Soldiers operating the AMAS vehicles provided us very positive feedback about how the system freed them up to do the job of a soldier instead of the job of a truck driver."

Testing included using palletized loading system, and vehicle convoys in which the lead vehicle was driven by a soldier and the following vehicles (three to four) followed robotically.

EWE was sponsored by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and was managed by the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center.