WASHINGTON — Defense robotics firm Overland AI announced it has been awarded a new $20 million contract to “produce autonomous ground vehicles” for the US Marine Corps “in support” of the Corps’ Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS).
The company said Monday the contract marked the “first step toward integrating fully autonomous ground vehicles at scale in USMC programs of record,” and noted the award makes the firm the “first ground autonomy company to prime a production contract.”
“Pairing the autonomous platforms with our Marine Air Defense Integrated System will greatly extend the operational reach and lethality of our air defense units,” Marine Corps Program Manager for Ground Based Air Defense Joe Klocek said in the Overland AI release.
The Marine Corps uses the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) to employ MADIS, and Overland AI’s autonomous ground vehicle is designed to integrate into that ecosystem, according to Overland AI CEO Byron Boots.
“It’s not intended to replace the JLTV,” Boots told reporters Monday. “So we’re going to start by integrating the [Overland AI] vehicle into the system, providing a resupply capability for the other vehicles, which are part of the system, and we may build on it from there. But that’s kind of how the program is starting.”
Boots said that the company’s autonomous ground vehicle is equipped to tackle a series of mission sets, ranging from resupply to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
“Our understanding is that they’ll initially be used for resupply, but we believe that there’ll be many different possible use cases and ways to integrate this vehicle into the program,” Boots said.
It’s unclear exactly how many vehicles will be delivered under the contract, although Boots said to expect more than a dozen. The first vehicle is slated for delivery roughly nine months following the contract award. Boots said that details about the specific autonomous ground vehicle would be announced at a later date.
Boots said that ground autonomy is more important than ever, and noted that Overland AI is “registering extremely high demand from US operational units who want to incorporate this technology into their concepts of operation.” Likewise, he said that there is a “revolution” in land warfare amid the conflict in Ukraine, and the use of uncrewed ground vehicles is a component of that.
“The way that we view this is that uncrewed vehicles really provide soldiers with, and Marines, with safety and standoff — so the ability to remove a human from a point of contact to keep them safe during operations,” Boots said. “So that’s why uncrewed ground vehicles have really been effective, and why we’re seeing them proliferate on the battlefield there.”
The Marine Corps did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Breaking Defense about whether other companies were also awarded contracts as part of this initiative.