Overview
- The Army awarded American Rheinmetall an 18-month Project Sustainment contract through the National Advanced Mobility Consortium to develop and deliver hybrid-powered autonomous uncrewed ground vehicles for tactical logistics.
- American Rheinmetall will act as prime contractor and lead a team that includes Harbinger supplying the plug-in hybrid vehicle platform, Forterra providing the autonomy software, and Primordial Labs supplying the Anura natural-language voice human-machine interface.
- Work will focus on prototyping and integration at U.S. facilities and test ranges with trials planned to demonstrate autonomous supply runs to and from the forward line of troops for company-sized sustainment missions.
- The Harbinger platform offers a commercial hybrid chassis that can be up-fitted for military use and reportedly can provide exportable power, a feature that could let supply vehicles also power forward positions.
- The NAMC award is structured for rapid, experimental development outside traditional acquisition and includes potential follow-on orders if prototypes meet Army needs and clear operational tests.