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The Australian Army has confirmed that it has successfully operated an autonomous truck convoy as part of the “Leader-Follower” trial.
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The trial, which took place on a public highway in Victoria, was comprised of four autonomous vehicles which followed a crewed leader vehicle.
Defence revealed that it marks the first autonomous convoy to drive on an Australian public road.
The trials provided insight into how autonomous vehicles can support Army’s warfighting capabilities going into the future, and included a simulated autonomous resupply mission which Defence announced took place between Mangalore Airfield and Puckapunyal.
“This trial showed how a convoy could undertake a resupply mission between an airfield and a military base, giving us an idea of how this kind of technology could be used in the future,” Colonel Robin Smith from Army’s Future Land Warfare said.
“Driving on a highway in traffic meant the technology was tested to stop safely, and leave distances between other vehicles, while following the path set by the leader.
“Down the track technology like this could remove our soldiers from dangerous environments or help free soldiers up for other roles.”
The Leader-Follower trial was supported by the National Transport Research Organisation and Deakin University.
Army explained that the trial is the latest in Army’s efforts to modernise their warfighting efforts, which include enhancements into human-machine teaming, quantum technology and artificial intelligence.
The announcement follows news that the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory held the inaugural AUKUS artificial intelligence and autonomy trial.
The AUKUS collaboration aims to drive emerging technologies into military capabilities with the event attended by more than 70 military and civilian defence personnel and industry contractors in April this year.
The work saw the initial joint deployment of Australian, UK, and US AI-enabled assets in a collaborative swarm to detect and track military targets in a representative environment in real time, as well as the live retraining of models in flight and the interchange of AI models between AUKUS nations.
Senior AUKUS Advanced Capabilities pillar leaders included UK Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff General Rob Magowan, US senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense for AUKUS Abraham Denmark, and Australian Deputy Secretary strategy, policy, and industry Hugh Jeffrey.
“The AUKUS AI and autonomy trial in Salisbury Plains demonstrated AI algorithms working in a mission-tailored adaptive capability,” said Australian Deputy Secretary, strategy, policy and industry, Hugh Jeffrey.
“The AUKUS research and operator teams collaborated to develop, test, and evaluate joint machine-learning models, and operate our different national platforms on the battlefield.
“I was impressed to see AI models rapidly updated at the tactical edge to incorporate new targets, which were immediately shared among the three partners to deliver decision advantage and meet changing mission requirements.
“This cooperation under AUKUS Pillar II will deliver a capability greater than any one country could achieve alone, and this really is the rationale for the AUKUS partnership at work.”
The AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Pillar, known as Pillar 2, is pursuing a trilateral program of work on a range of leading-edge technologies and capabilities to promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
