The Advanced Warfighting Experiment (AWE) conducted last month by the Marine Corps in conjunction with the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014 highlighted the progress made in unmanned ground systems as well as the work still needed before they become operationally relevant.

The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory teamed up with the 3rd Marine Division in Hawaii to work through a scenario in which small landing units attempted to move from ship to shore, land on dispersed locations on an island and remain connected to headquarters still on the ship.

Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii - The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) on patrol with a Marine during the Advanced Warfighting Experiment (AWE), part of RIMPAC 2014. Photo courtesy  Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii – The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) on patrol with a Marine during the Advanced Warfighting Experiment (AWE), part of RIMPAC 2014. Photo courtesy Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.

“That was very challenging to have three distinct companies with three different missions” and maintain command and control, communications and logistics throughout the missions, MCWL Commanding General Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea said Wednesday at a National Defense Industrial Association conference on ground robotics.

Among the new technologies used in the experiment were the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), the Ground Unmanned Support Surrogate (GUSS) and a half-scale model of the Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC).

Killea said the lab has worked with LS3 and GUSS in mountainous environments in California and in wooded environments outside Boston, where LS3 was created. But the AWE was the Marines’ first opportunity to assess the robots in a jungle environment. LS3 could detect and avoid trees in the jungle but struggled with vines between the trees, the general said, which led to the four-legged robot getting tangled up and flipping over several times. GUSS, a converted Internally Transportable Vehicle, had trouble maintaining its GPS signal in the jungle canopy and had to rely more heavily on human operators instead of maneuvering more autonomously, he added.

Still, Killea said he was very pleased with the exercise and the lessons learned from it, including how to improve human-to-robot interactions and integrating the robots into plans to move combat gear ashore.

The hardware and software still isn’t perfect, he said, but that is fine for now.

“Our objective is to provide technologies to the Marine Corps that will enable increasing levels of autonomy and capabilities that will allow for operational innovation. I believe over the next 10 or 15 years–I think 10–that autonomous ground systems must emerge as a force multiplier for these advanced operational concepts.”

As he outlined how to move forward, he said autonomous systems today are largely logistics connectors. Both LS3 and GUSS can follow along with vehicle convoys or foot patrols and bring water, food and supplies that the Marines cannot carry or store in their own trucks. In the mid-term, from about 2017 to 2022, Killea said he envisions autonomous ground vehicles becoming more a “wingman” for Marines, acting as an additional squad member and taking on some tasks to free up Marines for other work. Beyond 2022, Killea said the ground robots should become “integrated multi-role systems.”

Today unmanned vehicles typically focus on explosive ordnance detection and disposal missions and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. As technology improves, he hopes they’ll take on new missions–meaning the robots themselves should be modular and able to easily take on new sensors and equipment.