The Insider

Contractor BAE Systems has received a $79 million contract modification to produce three production-representative test vehicles for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle Recovery variant, according to a Pentagon announcement.

ACV-R is the fourth and final variant planned within the Marine Corp’s ACV program, following personnel carrier (ACV-P), command and control (ACV-C) and 30mm cannon (ACV-30) versions.

Under the new award, BAE will deliver three ACV-Rs for government testing, which is expected to occur “next year,” a separate announcement from BAE states.

Equipped with a winch and crane, the ACV-R is intended to provide field support, maintenance, and recovery for the vehicle family. According to BAE, ACV-R will be capable of recovering vehicles weighing more than 30 tons.

“One of the most challenging things that can happen on the battlefield is for a vehicle to breakdown or need to be recovered,” BAE vice president of amphibious programs Garrett Lacaillade said in a statement included in the company’s release. “The ACV-R is a modern, highly capable recovery and mobile repair unit that provides critical expeditionary support to immobilized ACVs in the field and provides maintenance support capabilities without risking our Marines’ safety.”

The Marine Corps expects the ACV-R to achieve initial operational capability in the first quarter of fiscal year 2028, budget documents state.

The service’s FY-25 budget request looks to continue acquisitions of earlier ACV variants, requesting $810 million for 80 ACV-30s -- a variant equipped with a stabilized, medium-caliber, remote turret system.

This procurement quantity reflects a reduction of 48 vehicles compared to the prior year’s expectations, due to spending caps under the Fiscal Responsibility Act and higher than expected costs for the vehicles, according to justification documents.

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Drone company Saildrone today announced a new partnership with Thales Australia to equip autonomous uncrewed surface vehicles with a towed-array sonar payload to support anti-submarine warfare missions.

The partnership will pair the latest evolution of Thales’ BlueSentry thin-line, towed-array system -- a platform-agnostic payload designed for compatibility with a variety of unmanned vehicles -- with Saildrone’s Surveyor medium-USV, a 65-foot-long autonomous vessel made for long-endurance, open-ocean missions including mapping and maritime domain awareness.

The towed-array system will enable the USV to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance functions needed in ASW missions and will free up manned vessels typically involved in these operations, Saildrone announced today at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference.

“Thales Australia has a proud history of exporting specialized sonar and acoustic products in support of one of our closest allies, the United States,” Troy Stephen, vice president of underwater systems for Thales Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement included in the announcement. “This opportunity with Saildrone now represents the ability to expand that support to include our latest innovations in the field of undersea surveillance through the BlueSentry thin-line array system.”

In a statement shared with Inside Defense, Saildrone Founder & CEO Richard Jenkins said the effort is not directly related to AUKUS Pillar II, which seeks greater collaboration between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in the development of advanced technologies including autonomy and undersea capabilities.

“That said, we anticipate considerable applications within the AUKUS Pillar II structure when it takes shape, at which time the Surveyor/BlueSentry combination will be a mature product ready to roll out at scale," Jenkins said.

In 2022, Saildrone and shipbuilder Austal USA announced a partnership to increase Surveyor production at the latter company’s aluminum production line in Mobile, AL. The two companies launched the first Austal-built Surveyor earlier this year.

The Navy is incorporating Surveyor USVs in exercises and experimentation. Last month, Rear Adm. James Aiken said the 4th Fleet has seen success using Saildrone systems in its operations, while Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti underscored the service’s focus on developing and fielding uncrewed technology.

The Pentagon, through the experimental event series Thunderstorm 24-3, is searching for innovative solutions on robotic partners and human-machine interfaces that can excel in various operational conditions.

The Thunderstorm event series, coordinated through the innovation and modernization office within the under secretary of defense for research and engineering, focuses on discovering new technologies and supplying industry, academia and government organizations with feedback on their innovative solutions to accelerate the technology-maturation process.

Each Thunderstorm event highlights a different aspect of emerging technology the Pentagon is looking to further develop.

“Thunderstorm 24-3 focuses on innovative solutions for robotic partners and human-machine interfaces (HMI),” a request for information posted yesterday said. “Robotics and HMI solutions are critical in DOD operations because they enhance warfighter capabilities in challenging environments and across multiple mission spaces.”

The Defense Department said it was searching for these capabilities as robotics can help lower the risk to humans and HMI capabilities can “reduce operator workload.”

“Applicable across all domains, robotics and HMI technologies provide a technological advantage in unpredictable operational conditions,” the notice said.

The application deadline for solutions is May 15 and Thunderstorm 24-3 is scheduled to occur on Sept. 16-20 near College Station, TX.

Meanwhile, Thunderstorm 24-2, which focuses on persistent sensors innovative capabilities, will take place in June.

Oceaneering International announced today the completion of a successful one-week autonomous underwater vehicle demonstration for the Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit, completing the first phase of a prototype agreement.

The demonstration included showcasing Oceaneering’s design, engineering and operating capabilities pertaining to the Freedom Autonomous Undersea Vehicle, which was selected by the Navy and DIU for evaluation with potential future use in the Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicles fleet the U.S. military is working on.

In February, the Navy and DIU announced they had awarded prototype agreements to Oceaneering, Kongsberg Discovery and Anduril Industries to assist with unmanned underwater vehicle platform prototyping and development.

Kongsberg and Anduril have not reported any official demonstrations yet.

DIU Navy lead Capt. Alex Campbell told Inside Defense in February that the prototyping agreements all contain milestones that began “with a series of in-water demonstration events of existing capabilities against government requirements.”

“The demonstration included several days of at-sea testing where Oceaneering successfully demonstrated many of the autonomous capabilities of the Freedom AUV, including undocking, docking, obstacle avoidance, precision payload placement, survey and transit,” Oceaneering’s press release said today.

This demonstration is the first phase of the contract Oceaneering signed with the Navy and DIU.

“Phase two, if executed, will contain prototype development tasks,” Oceaneering said.

Oceaneering said that the demonstration was an “important milestone” for maritime defense.

“Ultimately, advanced UUVs will supplement submarine fleets by conducting autonomous sensing and delivering payloads in challenging, dispersed, deep-sea environments,” Oceaneering said. “These events serve as critical baseline assessments to understand capability gaps and inform future development priorities.”

Oceaneering’s Subsea Robotics segment held the test at its subsea autonomy testing facility in Norway, where Peter Buchanan, senior director for the Subsea Robotics segment, said there were unpredictable weather conditions that helped display Freedom AUV’s ability in “tackling complex challenges.”

“It has been an extraordinary experience spending this week with the U.S. Navy and DIU showcasing the exceptional capabilities of our Freedom AUV unit,” Buchanan said. “Our collaborative sessions have been instrumental in highlighting the unit's proven capabilities, efficient data recovery, amazing vehicle control and autonomy, precise mission planning and effective troubleshooting strategies.”

Shield AI, a U.S. defense technology company, announced its definitive agreement to acquire Sentient Vision Systems, an Australian artificial intelligence company, citing its focus on Pillar II of the AUKUS security agreement.

Together, the companies will blend their operational knowledge of AI and develop “superior intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for today’s rapidly changing defense and security environment,” Shield AI said today.

The merger, which is subject to federal regulatory approval, comes amid Defense Department efforts to further AUKUS Pillar II, which focuses on tri-lateral involvement between the U.S., the U.K. and Australia to develop and field advanced defense technologies.

Mark Palmer, Sentient Vision Systems’ CEO, said the new partnership underscores the goals outlined in AUKUS Pillar II.

“What stood out to us about Shield AI is that they are the only company in the world with an operational AI pilot, and therefore have the technological expertise and maturity to really deliver on the AI technology workstream underlined in AUKUS Pillar 2,” Palmer said. “The innovation breakthrough combining our computer vision AI-enabled ViDAR and Shield AI’s Hivemind will increase situational awareness, enabling quicker more effective decision making and help to save lives.”

In October, Shield AI and Sentient announced a multiyear agreement to combine Sentient’s ViDAR, which is an AI system that uses Electro-Optic or Infrared sensors to identify and label targets invisible to a conventional radar, with Shield AI’s Hivemind, which is an AI pilot that does not require remote GPS operators, naming the collaboration the “Sentient Observer.”

“This acquisition unites Sentient’s ViDAR and our Hivemind AI pilot, creating the world’s most advanced AI-piloted ISR sensor package,” said Ryan Tseng, CEO and co-founder of Shield AI. “Considering the imperative of covering vast maritime areas, especially in the Pacific, joining forces with Sentient was a strategic choice given their expertise in optical radar solutions. The integration of WAMI on V-BAT will revolutionize our offering, enabling Group 3-sized aircraft to perform tasks that previously required larger, costlier aircraft, significantly enhancing our customers’ operational capabilities.”

Shield AI plans to fly the “Sentient Observer” this year, as well as roll out the first deliveries.

“The DOD has asked for an all-seeing eye over tens of thousands of square miles, 24/7, without the need for GPS or communication links,” said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s president and cofounder. “For Shield AI, Sentient Observer is the final piece of that puzzle. The DOD can begin augmenting and replacing their legacy solutions for a distributed, low cost, low risk solution that doesn’t break the bank if an aircraft is shot down.”

(Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that three companies have been added to the original five selected to develop autonomous systems for the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle.)

The Defense Innovation Unit announced yesterday it has selected Anduril Industries, Overland AI and Palantir Technologies and added them to five companies previously selected to develop autonomous systems for the service's Robotic Combat Vehicle.

“Together, these companies will support the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program in developing a robust, capable and compliant software system that can operate in a variety of autonomous modes and rapidly integrate a variety of payloads as they become available,” the April 3 release reads.

The DIU selected Forterra, Kodiak Robotics, Neya Systems and Overland AI to develop the autonomous navigation software for the vehicle while Applied Intuition and Scale AI will develop the machine learning capabilities.

Anduril Industries and Palantir Technologies will be responsible for software system integration.

“We are excited to work with these best-in-class autonomy providers, software experts and systems integrators as we drive towards merging software capabilities developed through the RCV Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP) into the RCV Full System Prototype (FSP),” RCV Product Manager Steve Herrick said in the release.

“Our software system integrators will also be the first to implement Traceability, Observability, Replaceability and automated Consumption (TORC) compliance for Army software-centric ground vehicles, thereby helping the Army ensure programmatic flexibility and performance over time.”

Part of the Army’s human-machine integration efforts, the Robotic Combat Vehicle is designed to conduct reconnaissance missions and protect the flanks of crewed armored units. The vehicle is intended to be attritable will have a flatbed to accommodate both lethal and non-lethal payloads.

The Army initially envisioned light, medium and heavy variants but, in August 2023, prioritized development on the light variant through a middle-tier acquisition pathway and rapid prototyping approach, according to the Congressional Research Service.

In September 2023, the Army down selected General Dynamics, Oshkosh, Textron and HDT to develop prototypes of the vehicle for delivery in August 2024.

While General Dynamics, Oshkosh and Textron are developing tracked vehicles, HDT opted for wheels in their design.