United States Military Vehicle General: Guns, G*vins, and Gas Turbines

[alanch90]

4 hours ago, Beer said:

 

If it's going to be used as unmanned, it will be commanded by someone sitting in the command post. IMHO we are very far from an UGV being able to command itself except or some very simple tasks such as drive along a given road. 

But those are 2 very different things (having the vehicle be remotely operated vs having an AI "commander"). However for an IFV its the most efficient use of the interior volume. You get to have a full sized squad being the only people actually sitting inside the vehicle in combat. In addition, you can have no more than 2 people of said squad doubling as assistant crewmen, but meant to dismount with the rest of the squad.

[Beer]

1 hour ago, alanch90 said:

But those are 2 very different things (having the vehicle be remotely operated vs having an AI "commander"). However for an IFV its the most efficient use of the interior volume. You get to have a full sized squad being the only people actually sitting inside the vehicle in combat. In addition, you can have no more than 2 people of said squad doubling as assistant crewmen, but meant to dismount with the rest of the squad.

 

Yes, but the option with an AI commander is a sci-fi scenarion atm. First the development in AI and sensors isn't able of self commanding yet and won't be for for years to come. And the second thing and probably more important is the one that you simply can't give the AI the trigger. You can do that in a designated kill zone, i.e. for example in a defence perimeter of an ICBM base but not in the open where combatants and non-combatants mix in the weirdest possible combo and where everything you didn't think about during the design will certainly happen because such is life. 

[Ramlaen]

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2020/10/15/soldiers-to-evaluate-new-light-tank-prototypes/

[quote]The U.S. Army is preparing a soldier vehicle assessmentof two different light tank prototypes for infantry brigade combat teams that will start in January 2021 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The assessment will run through June 2021, according to the service.[/quote]
[quote]GDLS told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference that it has delivered three vehicles to the Army. One is at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, going through characterization and mobility testing and preparing for firing. Another is at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, undergoing desert testing and preparing for soldier training.

Five more prototypes are in “some form of checkout, getting ready for their final inspection report to deliver to the government,” a GDLS spokesperson said, and the company is on track to deliver all of the vehicles this year.[/quote]

[Ramlaen]

https://www.army.mil/article/239987

[quote]Networked Lethality capabilities were recently tested in the Stryker Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) vehicle here by Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

During operational testing conducted by the 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Soldiers validated the effectiveness of the Stryker’s Modified Improved Target Acquisition System (MITAS) under realistic combat situations against a dynamic opposing force.

Through networked lethality, crews can now pass images and cue targets between vehicle platforms.

“The network lethality upgrade is a game-changer,” said Sgt. 1st Class Joe Raynel, 2nd Platoon Sergeant, Delta Troop, 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.

“The ability to create a route or develop an engagement area and share amongst the platoon increases the Stryker’s operational effectiveness.”

Ron Thomas, assistant test officer with the Fort Hood, Texas-based U.S. Army Operational Test Command (OTC), said MITAS upgrades are the first significant improvements to the vehicle’s capabilities since the Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s formation and activation nearly two decades ago.

He emphasized the engineering change is a long-awaited upgrade within the Stryker ATGM community.

The recent modification has introduced a new capability called network lethality.

Network lethality allows each Stryker to act as a sensor by transmitting situational reports and images within the Platoon, Company, and Brigade.

Other MITAS upgrades include the precision far target locator (pFTL), image enhancement, high-definition color camera, and upgraded missile launcher.

The pFTL integrates with the laser range finder, which allows for greater accuracy and precision while detecting enemy targets.

The networked lethality also enables and allows the ATGM vehicles to increase their tactical dispersion within the limits of the terrain, explained Thomas.

Optical enhancements provide the ATGM gunner with improvements for detecting, recognizing, and identifying targets at greater ranges and with more clarity.

“I was able to take images of enemy targets over 9 kilometers and cue my wingman to their location using the network lethality capability,” said Sgt. Anthony Rodrigues, Stryker ATGM Gunner for 1st Platoon, Delta Troop, Delta Troop, 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.

Since July, four months into the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Soldiers and crews of “Dog” Troop have been training and gaining proficiencies on operating the new Stryker ATGM vehicle at Joint Base Lewis-McCord (JBLM).

Working through social distancing challenges, Soldiers received new equipment and maintenance training on the MITAS system.

After training and certification, the troop deployed to Yakima Training Center, which was the first time Soldiers traveled outside the immediate JBLM area since restrictions to movement went into effect from the pandemic.

“After completing the operational test, Delta Troop may be the most trained and ready ATGM crews in the U.S. Army,” said Lt. Col. Brian Caldwell, another OTC test officer.

OTC’s test team deployed early September from Fort Hood to Yakima, amid the Corona Virus Pandemic and the threatening regional wildfires in Central Washington and Northern Oregon.

Despite the environmental and health threats and risks, the testers and Soldiers of “Dog” Troop took meticulous safety precautions to protect all personnel.

“The perseverance and discipline of all involved ensured the health safety and prevention of infection at the test site,” said Caldwell. “Deploying to Yakima was a high risk because it appeared to be the location with the highest infection rates in the state.”

Before the start of the record test phase, “Dog” Troop conducted a live-fire exercise engaging static targets out to multiple distances.

Dog Troop successfully fired five tube-launched optically tracked wire guided (TOW) missiles to validate the MITAS system.

Two Stryker ATGM Platoons also conducted simulated force on force engagements under both day and night conditions.

“This was easily one of the best Stryker ATGM training events I have witnessed since being assigned to 8-1 CAV,” said 1st Lt. Alexander Windmiller, Delta Troop Executive Officer.

The operational test included a live threat that consisted of three Stryker platforms conducting reconnaissance missions.

After completing their tactical missions, every Soldier submitted feedback to OTC test officers.

“The Army’s Operational Test Command thrives on conducting independent operational testing to inform acquisition and fielding decisions based on the Warfighter’s voice,” said Col. Jason Kniffen, Director of OTCs Maneuver Test Directorate.

“The Stryker ATGM operational test provided vital data that will inform the Army’s decision to field the Stryker ATGM in the future,” he said.[/quote]

[StarshipDirect]

What the Abrams AFAS could have had http://imgur.com/gallery/eOtuRoW

[SH_MM]

Textron joins Team Lynx (Rheinmetall + Raytheon) in the effort to sell a new variant of the Lynx IFV to the US Army.

[Ramlaen]

 

[ZloyKrolik]

The Tank Museum does the M48.

 

Too bad they showed an M60 cupola when talking about the M48.

 

 

[Ramlaen]

https://breakingdefense.sites.breakingmedia.com/2020/10/gm-defense-delivers-1st-air-droppable-trucks/

 

General Motor’s three-year-old defense division made good on its first major Pentagon contract this morning, delivering the first four production-model Infantry Squad Vehicles to the Army just four months after the $214 million award. That’s a stunningly swift pace for a military procurement, even for a vehicle derived from a civilian truck, the Chevy Colorado ZR2. The 2.5-ton ISV is built with 90 percent off-the-shelf commercial parts, but is beefed up to carry nine fully equipped infantry and to be deployable by parachute.

[Ramlaen]

 

[LoooSeR]

 

[Ramlaen]

https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/10/29/how-the-army-plans-to-revolutionize-tanks-with-artificial-intelligence/

 

Now we know what became of the Griffin I.

[alanch90]

2 hours ago, Ramlaen said:

https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/10/29/how-the-army-plans-to-revolutionize-tanks-with-artificial-intelligence/

 

Now we know what became of the Griffin I.

That's very interesting and sounds very similar to what the Chinese are doing. However i will express the same doubts that i did on the occasion of commenting on the AI assisted target detection and full AI gunnery. The latter is more difficult than the first especially in the kind of procedure described in the article (which point to a 2 man crew, driver plus commander). Why i say this? Because since the commander is busy confirming the targets offered to him by the AI and passing them over to the AI gunner (to smartly prioritize the order in which the targets will be engaged should be relatively simple), the "AI gunner" must be able to do three basic tasks in growing difficulty: calculating a fire solution, which is the simplest, but also be able to distinguish a missed shot from a successful impact (and hence apply corrections for the following shot) which might require other types of sensors other than just very fancy thermal cameras (for example a radar capable of tracking both the enemy target and the trajectory of the projectiles fired at it) and lastly the most difficult: to be able to judge whether the target has been successfully neutralized or not.  I would argue that to make this judgement is even more difficult than distinguishing a target from a non-target. In fact the process may require the commander to interrupt the recognition of targets in order to go back at an already engaged target and order the system to re engage or proceed to the next one on the list. These are just the first "bottlenecks" that i can think of relating to the system described above which in the absence of a dedicated human gunner among the crew might render the system as not much faster in practice than the systems we already have. 

[Ramlaen]

M2A4 Bradley being tested by 3rd BCT 1st Cav

 

Spoiler

 

Don't see anything noticeably different which would make sense given the A4 changes are mostly internal.

[Beer]

T28 interior

 

[Ramlaen]

 

[Scolopax]

 

[LoooSeR]

3 hours ago, Scolopax said:

 

   That is plenty of hustle to put remaining "shoes" on your pancake with 105 mm gun.

[Jackvony]

 

Spooky SEPv3

[Jackvony]

 

M2A3 Bradleys in NE Syria, as per CENTCOM.

[StarshipDirect]

[ZloyKrolik]

So they took the turret off the Bradley to put an unmanned one back on?

[StarshipDirect]

1 hour ago, ZloyKrolik said:

So they took the turret off the Bradley to put an unmanned one back on?

It's the AMPV, but yeah pretty much is a Bradley with an unmanned turret. It's the new EOS R800 turret. 

[Ramlaen]

A better version of those images.

Spoiler

 

https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/eos-defense-systems-celebrates-first-production-unit/

[StarshipDirect]

On 11/9/2020 at 9:16 PM, Ramlaen said:

A better version of those images.

  Hide contents

 

https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/eos-defense-systems-celebrates-first-production-unit/

I'm still learning how to upload quality pics on here.