Tanks To Have Remote-Control

What’s the fastest way to acquire unmanned ground vehicles? Rig your manned vehicles for remote control.

General Dynamics Land Systems, the maker of the Abrams tank (pictured) and the Stryker armored fighting vehicle is teaming up with Kairos Autonomi, a company whose kits can turn virtually anything with wheels or tracks into a remote-controlled car. It’s part of a strategic play to meet the US Army’s expanding demand for unmanned ground vehicles.

Kairos, the name comes from a Greek term meaning “opportune moment”, makes two types of kits. One is basically a seat robot that works a car’s controls just as a human would, and can be installed in about 20 minutes. The other leaves the seat free but takes several hours to install. No, it’s not autonomous driving, but it is here today and the military can put it on vehicles it already owns.

“You don’t have to go into the vehicle and pull the electronics out, pull out the architecture, cut the vehicle. You don’t have to start on a new build. It gives our military customers an option for a quick install and then they’ll have a remote or unmanned capability for existing vehicles,” said Phil Skuta, director of Marine programs at General Dynamics Land Systems, at the Association of the US Army convention in Washington.

The military has already installed Kairos kits on disposable vehicles to create moving targets for shooting practice. But GDLS is now working to fit them onto heavier combat vehicles… “We’ve had these installed on LAVs, on Strykers,” Skuta said.

The US Army’s move to unmanned convoys and fighting machines is spelled out in its recent Autonomy and Robotic System Strategy, which lists semi-autonomous resupply (where trucks follow one another in a convoy) as a near-term goal and fully autonomous resupply a little later, around 2020. The eventual goal is full autonomy, but the route to that destination is unclear. Converting existing pieces of equipment into remotely driven fighting vehicles represents a step forward, one that’s achievable today at the cost of less than $30,000 per kit.

“Frankly, the technology in robotics is changing so rapidly, you can’t imagine someone building a thousand vehicles that are robots,” said Kairos founder Troy Takach, “because by the time they get the build started and the build ended, the technology will have eclipsed them.”

Takach says that the military’s fixation on achieving full autonomy has slowed progress toward deploy unmanned ground systems by pushing remote piloting efforts to the wayside.

“Everybody’s trying to have autonomy,” he said. “That’s what everybody considers the Holy Grail out there. That’s why we don’t have any robots deployed today, because if you go look at the military planning, the robots are always 20 years out.”

Indeed, the first self-driving car proof of concept arrived more than 10 years ago, in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. The winning team from Stanford was quickly snatched up by Google, which has since managed to operationalize self-driving car technology funded by the military, and to do it faster than the military.

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who directs the US Army’s Capabilities Integration Center, said getting remotely piloted and unmanned fighting vehicles out into the field is “something we really want to move forward on. What we want to do is get that kind of capability into soldiers’ hands early so we can refine the tactics, techniques and procedures, and then also consider enemy countermeasures and then build into the design of units that are autonomy enabled, build in the counter to those counters.”

Once soldiers can test and drill on unmanned vehicles, McMaster said, he’ll be looking to understand how well the vehicles perform when confronted with advanced electromagnetic and Cyber weapons.

“The key is: how does it perform in a contested Cyber environment. The mission assurance has to be under consideration from the beginning,” he said.

In this way, the integrity of data communication and transmission links is as important to as any breakthrough in autonomy or machine vision. Skuta says that gives the United States a lead on Russia, which has said it will move to unmanned versions of the Armata T-14 tank.

“Our distinct advantage, with robotics in particular, is the coding and software because that’s what really makes the autonomy work; and the communications links, the ability to command and control, send data and communicate across a global network in a way that’s secure down to the point of tactical contact with the enemy. That’s a distinct advantage that we can protect.” he said.

Takach said rigging an Abrams tank for remote control would be more difficult than a standard automobile, but hardly impossible. General Dynamics was coy about the possibility. “We are looking at a competitive phase for programs coming out in 2017,” Skuta said.

DefenseOne

 

« Cybersecurity Skills Gap in India
Chatbot To Teach You A Foreign Language »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

The PC Support Group

The PC Support Group

A partnership with The PC Support Group delivers improved productivity, reduced costs and protects your business through exceptional IT, telecoms and cybersecurity services.

Perimeter 81 / How to Select the Right ZTNA Solution

Perimeter 81 / How to Select the Right ZTNA Solution

Gartner insights into How to Select the Right ZTNA offering. Download this FREE report for a limited time only.

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: What Is A Next-Generation Firewall (and why does it matter)?

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: What Is A Next-Generation Firewall (and why does it matter)?

Watch this webinar to hear security experts from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SANS break down the myths and realities of what an NGFW is, how to use one, and what it can do for your security posture.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

CNCERT/CC

CNCERT/CC

CNCERT is the national Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team / Coordination Center of China.

Assuria

Assuria

Assuria Cyber Security solutions provide protective monitoring of systems and user activity across the whole IT infrastructure.

Yokogawa Electric

Yokogawa Electric

Yokogawa is an electrical engineering company providing measurement, control, and information technologies including industrial cyber security.

NetExtend

NetExtend

NetExtend services include backup and recovery, endpoint protection, network monitoring, cloud portal and billing and payment solutions.

Global Station for Big Data & Cybersecurity (GSB)

Global Station for Big Data & Cybersecurity (GSB)

GSB is an interdisciplinary research hub to cover big data, information networks, and cybersecurity.

Executive Women's Forum (EWF)

Executive Women's Forum (EWF)

The Executive Women's Forum is the largest member organization serving emerging leaders and influential female executives in the Information Security, Risk Management and Privacy industries.

Assured Enterprises

Assured Enterprises

Assured Enterprises provides comprehensive cyber risk identification, management and mitigation across all platforms.

Volatility Foundation

Volatility Foundation

Volatility is an open source memory forensics framework for incident response and malware analysis.

Belkasoft

Belkasoft

Belkasoft is a software vendor providing public agencies, corporate security teams, and private investigators with digital forensic solutions.

Haventec

Haventec

Haventec’s internationally patented technologies reduce cyber risk and enable pervasive trust services with a decentralised approach to authentication.

24By7Security

24By7Security

24By7Security are Cybersecurity & Compliance Specialists with extensive hands on experience helping businesses build a defensive IT Infrastructure against all cyber security threats.

BullWall

BullWall

BullWall is a digital innovator dedicated to fight cybercrime in its many forms. Our overarching purpose is to stop new and unknown strings of ransomware attacks in its tracks.

Silobreaker

Silobreaker

Silobreaker is a SaaS platform that enables threat intelligence teams to produce high-quality and relevant intelligence at a faster pace.

Teal Technology Consulting

Teal Technology Consulting

TEAL Technology Consulting is your trusted advisor for all your information security needs.

Silicon Valley Cybersecurity Institute (SVCSI)

Silicon Valley Cybersecurity Institute (SVCSI)

SVCSI aims to investigate, develop, and promote technical excellence and the best security practices for dependable and secure systems and applications.

Meta 1st

Meta 1st

Meta 1st are a progressive SAAS enterprise, dedicated to harnessing the power of AI to address the most critical vulnerabilities in the world of cybersecurity: the Human Layer.