The U.S. Marine Corps will begin to test at least 50 technology platforms in April at Camp Pendleton in California as part of a technology demonstration that will last for nine months, Breaking Defense reported Thursday.Navy Capt. Chris Mercer, director of the service branch’s rapid prototyping, experimentation and demonstration, said more than 100 engineers and operators from the Navy and Marine Corps evaluated and selected 50 technologies out of 124 proposals received for the Ship To Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technology Exercise 2017, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. wrote.
The S2ME2 ANTX 2017 exercise will field-test several technology platforms across six mission areas.
Those areas include early intelligence and reconnaissance, threat identification, reconnaissance and threat elimination, manuever ashore, combat power ashore and amphibious command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Examples of such technologies include robotic platforms, unmanned boats, high-bandwidth networks that have anti-jamming functions, 3D printing technologies, unmanned land-based vehicles and other drones.
“This exercise provides a unique opportunity for warfighters to assess emerging technologies and innovative engineering in support of amphibious assault operations,†acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley told Breaking Defense in a statement.
