Tech Firm Trials Air Defence System On Autonomous Vehicle

An fully autonomous combat vehicle prototype has been showing what it can do at the Project Convergence Capstone 4 field trials in California.

The U.S. Army experimentation exercise held earlier this year included U.K. and Australian forces and tested cutting-edge systems and technologies.

One of the systems utilised during the month-long exercises was a robotic-based, highly mobile, short range air defense vehicles using tech developed by L3Harris’ Agile Development Group.

As per a press release from the U.S. defence firm, the team seamlessly integrated advanced long-range surveillance and electronic attack (EA) capabilities onto a fully autonomous combat vehicle, enhancing ground-based air defense with beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) operations. The team adapted BLOS technology to an additional platform while at the event.

“Our team’s relentless drive to adapt and innovate is what ultimately drove our success with these prototypes,” said L3Harris's Jennifer Lewis, president of its airborne combat systems division.

The prototype excelled in rigorous field tests, navigating approximately 175 kilometers of challenging terrain over six days. It demonstrated robust capability across various mission scenarios, including counter-unmanned aircraft system surveillance and electronic warfare, providing early warning of air threats at a range of over 26 kilometers.

The firm claimed the field tests demonstrated the potential for air defense systems to evolve into nimble, tactical assets that enable protection to ground units at low levels, extending the operational range of autonomous ground platforms and liberating them from the constraints of traditional data link ranges.

Read more on the L3Harris website