German technology firm Rheinmetall announced on Friday it had developed a new robotic ground vehicle based on the Wiesel platform.
As noted by the German weapons maker, the Wiesel vehicle is equipped with a high-tech autonomy kit.
Rheinmetall’s Autonomous Combat Warrior Wiesel is driven by a state of the art autonomous kit which is applicable to a variety of both tracked and wheeled vehicle systems such as Boxer, Lynx or HX tactical trucks.
New combat vehicles could enable robot vehicles to carry supplies, test enemy defenses and even fire weapons – all while manned vehicles operate at a safer distance.
The ACW can be operated manually, remote-controlled or in full autonomous mode by programming waypoints on a tablet. It can avoid obstacles autonomously and it can also follow a lead vehicle in convoy mode.
Next-generation features include detecting soldier behavior and off-road terrain. The ultimate goal is improving soldier safety by keeping operators out of harm’s way.