The U.S. Army will implement a single configuration architecture for the branch’s unmanned ground vehicles through the Man Transportable Robotic System Increment 2 program, Defense News reported Saturday.Joe Gould writes the service expects to decide on MTRS production requirements in summer 2015 and issue a request for proposals during 2016.
Michael Clow, a strategic communications officer in the Army program executive office, said the branch also plans to reset approximately 60 percent of its ground robotic systems to a baseline configuration, according to the report.
Maj. Gen. Robert Dyess, Army force development chief, said the MTRS program will use an engineering change proposal in order to replace proprietary hardware and software with government-owned technology in Talon and PackBot military robots.
Gould reports that Army officials also aim to begin deployment of small robots by 2020 through a joint acquisition initiative with the Marine Corps.
A materiel development decision regarding the branch’s Common Robotic System Individual program could come by summer, according to the publication.
