Army, DIU Partner to Advance Autonomous Vehicle Technology

The U.S. Army has partnered with the Defense Innovation Unit to fast-track the development of autonomous vehicle technology for military applications.

The Ground Vehicle Autonomous Pathways project will focus on enhancing troop safety during high-risk missions and on creating software that enable unmanned ground vehicles to navigate complex combat environments, the DIU said.

The DIU has enlisted a group of commercial vendors in autonomous navigation, machine learning and autonomy and software system integrators to support the effort.

The selected companies are Forterra, Kodiak Robotics, Neya Systems, Overland AI, Applied Intuition, Scale AI, Anduril Industries and Palantir Technologies.

They will work with the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle program to design versatile autonomous software solutions that can rapidly adapt to and incorporate emerging capabilities.

Dr. Kevin O’Brien, the DIU’s autonomy portfolio technical director, emphasized the value of leveraging the private sector’s advancements in autonomous vehicle technology for defense applications. Meanwhile Steve Herrick, RCV product manager, underscored the project’s focus on adaptability and ensuring the long-term flexibility of the systems.