Lockheed Martin has awarded BAE Systems a contract to provide key autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities for DARPA’s Squad X programme.
Squad X prime contractor Lockheed Martin has awarded BAE Systems a contract to provide key autonomy and artificial intelligence capabilities that aim to advance the effectiveness of tactical robotic air and ground vehicles.
The goal of DARPA’s Squad X, which is composed of the complementary Squad X Experimentation and (the now completed) Squad X Core Technologies programmes, is to design, develop, and validate autonomous system prototypes and equip them with novel sensing tools and off-the-shelf technologies.
BAE Systems say their FAST Labs research and development organisation will provide Mission Intelligence for Tactical Systems (MITS) advanced sensor fusion, artificial intelligence, and autonomy.
“MITS is highly automated and directs mobile robots and their sensor payloads while reducing the cognitive load on its partner warfighters. MITS fuses sensor data, constructs and shares battlefield awareness with its human squadmates, and provides tactical electronic and kinetic support to the squad as it maneuvers and engages enemy positions. MITS-synthesized awareness informs human decision making in complex, time-critical combat situations, and directs continuous autonomous robotic tasking.”
“Autonomy technology – be it in the air, space, sea, or ground domain – is all about making better decisions faster to allow our warfighters to more effectively execute their missions as safely as possible,” said Chris Eisenbies, product line director of the Autonomy, Controls, and Estimation group at BAE Systems.
“We look forward to the prospects of providing this advantage to those in the field.”
