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American Rheinmetall Vehicles has secured a contract with the US Army as part of the Small Multi-Purpose Equipment Transport vehicle program to provide combat forces with a robust, autonomous logistics support vehicle.
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American Rheinmetall Vehicles, working with Textron Systems, will provide the US Army with a versatile and resilient platform capable of efficiently transporting supplies and equipment over rugged terrain to support combat operations.
As part of the scope of works, American Rheinmetall Vehicles will manufacture and deliver eight prototypes to the Army in 2025 for testing, evaluation, and to compete against the platform delivered by the second awardee before the Army downselects to a single platform and the program transitions to full-scale production.
Jim Schirmer, senior vice-president and deputy managing director of American Rheinmetall Vehicles, said, “American Rheinmetall Vehicles is honoured with the Army’s selection and excited to deliver our S-MET platform which is particularly attractive due to its technological excellence, affordability, and reliability.”
Rheinmetall draws on substantial expertise in developing unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), exemplified in its Mission Master family of vehicles, which encompass a range of modular, autonomous platforms designed for diverse missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance, counter unmanned aerial system, and logistical support.
American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ Small Multi-Purpose Equipment Transport vehicle (S-MET) solution leverages the groundbreaking advancements in unmanned technology found in the Mission Master vehicles to deliver a UGV tailored to meet the unique requirements of the Army's S-MET program.
In an effort to drive down costs and improve production scalability, the platform also uses many mature commercial components already found in the Army’s inventory or the commercial ATV space which drives affordability and reliability, and addresses electromagnetic concerns through its unique composite structure and use of materials.
Textron Systems brings to the team more than three decades of experience designing, manufacturing, fielding, and supporting unmanned platforms across air, land and sea domains.
Textron Systems and its subsidiary, Howe & Howe, contribute extensive knowledge of robotics and systems integration to the S-MET Inc II program, having developed the mature, multi-mission capable RIPSAW M5 and M3 ground robotics platforms for the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) programs.
Leveraging the control architecture developed for Textron Systems’ RCV solutions, the team’s S-MET vehicle provides a commonality that enables operators to utilise a common interface for both the RCV and S-MET programs.
American Rheinmetall Vehicles delivers next-generation, advanced tactical wheeled vehicles and innovative tracked and wheeled combat vehicles in support of today’s highest combat vehicle modernisation priorities for the US military.
