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Defense Daily’s Cal Biesecker was at Fort Bragg, N.C., on August 21 to observe the Army’s ongoing development and experimentation of autonomous technologies for use in clearing minefields and obstacles, an effort called the Sandhills Project that was begun in late 2022.
Here he talks with Col. Jeff Burges, commander, 20th Engineer Brigade, and Col. Tom Monaghan, commander, Joint Innovation Outpost, about the technologies being assessed, which includes the first use of a counter-drone system as part of the Sandhills Project, the benefits of autonomy in keeping soldiers out of harms way, and upcoming assessments prior to participating in a combined arms exercise this fall at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.
The systems used by the XVIII Airborne Corps last Friday included a Ford F-250 pickup equipped with Forterra’s auto-drive software, 9 Mother’s turreted autonomous shotgun system for point defense against drones, Safe Pro Group’s mine detecting software deployed aboard small drones, and Perennial Autonomy’s Bumblebee V2 unmanned aircraft systems used for ISR and suppression of enemy defenses.
