CTC Continues Work on Army Combat Vehicle Development Using Advanced Manufacturing Processes

The U.S. Army has awarded Concurrent Technologies Corp. a $13 million follow-on contract to work on the second phase of an effort to develop lightweight combat vehicles using advanced manufacturing processes.

Under Phase 2, CTC uses machine learning algorithms to build an advanced friction stir welding machine integrated with advanced controls.

According to Edward Sheehan Jr, CTC president and CEO, the company’s engineering and ML experts are collaborating to ensure the military has the most optimized vehicles possible to achieve mission success.

The work builds on the project’s first phase, which involved determining whether applying advanced controls and ML to the FSW process is feasible, CTC said.

The company has partnered with FSW equipment producer and supplier PAR Systems since the project started. PAR Systems is responsible for identifying and integrating advanced FSW sensors and supporting CTC in applying ML approaches to the manufacturing process.

The advanced FSW machine will be installed at CTC’s headquarters in Pennsylvania under the project’s third phase to demonstrate how it can build the next generation of combat vehicles.