The U.S. Army has begun a two-week exercise in Fort Bliss, Texas to carry out assessments on new warfighting technologies such as robotics systems and autonomous weapons.The first full Army Warfighting Assessment aims to solicit input from soldiers on how the new warfighting technologies perform during a simulated combat situation, the Army said Wednesday.
Technologies under evaluation at AWA include micro-unmanned aerial systems and a “leader-follower” system designed to help maintain the safety of convoy operations.
AWA participants consist of soldiers from the active duty Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve; along with countries such as the U.K., Australia, Canada, Denmark and Italy.
Maj. Gen. Terry McKenrick, commander of the Army’s Brigade Modernization Command, said the command will review and analyze the feedback from soldiers.
“We determine some findings and recommendations; we then brief that through a series of governance forms, and then it goes up to the Department of the Army, where senior leader…can prioritize and make decisions,” he said.
Soldiers will carry out 41 concepts and systems during the exercise to meet 20 warfighting challenges developed by the Army.
