A Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN] team has completed a successful demonstration to fire a Javelin missile using a remote launcher on an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), company officials said on Tuesday.
The Javelin Joint Venture Team conducted the recent test at the Army’s Redstone Test Center in Alabama, as the two companies set out to demonstrate a potential weapons capability for future armed ground robots.
“Javelin is ready to support emerging military robotic vehicle requirements. Remotely operated technology like this protects soldiers in battle,” Sam Deneke, vice president of Raytheon Land Warfare Systems, said in a statement.
The test involved firing the missiles from a Kongsberg remote launcher mounted on a Titan UGV, built by QinetiQ North America and Milrem Robotics.
“Once the launch command is issued, soldiers and vehicle assets like the UGV can reposition out of harm’s way. These tests demonstrated our ability to evolve Javelin capabilities to address new missions in support of the warfighter,” David Pantano, Lockheed Martin’s Javelin program director, said in a statement.
Javelin is an anti-tank missile that has been utilized on Common Remote Operations Weapon Stations integrated on Stryker fighting vehicles.