U.S. Army launches next-gen robotic mule program

The 75th U.S. Army Reserve Innovation Command has completed a structured research effort aimed at shaping the next version of the Army’s robotic load-carrying vehicle, gathering feedback from soldiers across all three Army components to inform requirements for the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport Increment 2.

The study was led by Lt. Col. Vikram Mittal and Lt. Col. Wesley Brown, both acquisition officers within the 75th USARIC, and was conducted between May and October 2025. Its findings are now being used by Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems to refine the requirements for SMET Increment 2, the follow-on to a robotic platform already fielded across active duty, National Guard, and Army Reserve units. The effort represented one of the more systematic attempts by the Army to ground a future robotic vehicle program directly in the experiences of the soldiers expected to use it.

“The aim of this study was to gather user feedback to inform the development of SMET Increment 2,” Mittal wrote in the report, adding that the team sought “a broad, representative sample of Soldier experience.” The research centered on four core questions: what aspects of the current SMET soldiers find useful, how units are actually employing the system, what improvements would increase user acceptance, and which enhancements would deliver the most value in future missions.

To answer those questions, the 75th Innovation Command built a multi-phase methodology combining surveys, structured interviews, and documentation review. The team began by contacting every unit that had been issued an SMET, ensuring participation across all three Army components. Units were then divided into two categories based on their level of hands-on experience with the system. Those with limited use received a detailed survey designed to identify desired capabilities and capture structured feedback. Units with extensive operational experience participated in virtual or in-person interviews, where soldiers described mission context, how they employed the vehicle, and what they observed as its strengths and limitations.

The survey itself was built using the SMET Capability Development Document, the formal requirements framework that defines what the system is supposed to do, ensuring that questions directly mapped to intended capabilities. It relied heavily on Likert-scale questions — a standard social science tool that measures attitudes and opinions along a five-point scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” — to enable statistical analysis, alongside a smaller number of open-ended questions for qualitative depth. Interview teams also collected after-action reports and training materials from participating units. As the report states, “Notes from the interview and documentation review were consolidated into the survey such that they could be used to help drive the quantitative and qualitative assessments.”

The data collection effort produced 80 responses, which the team consolidated into 48 company-level data sets — a number the report identifies as exceeding the threshold required for statistical significance. That sample size, drawn from units with real experience operating the current platform, gives the findings a degree of empirical weight that distinguishes the effort from typical requirements-writing processes, which often rely more heavily on engineering assumptions than on structured field feedback.

The SMET itself is a robotic ground vehicle designed to address one of the most persistent physical challenges facing dismounted infantry: the crushing weight soldiers are expected to carry on foot. Modern combat loads — weapons, ammunition, communications equipment, water, protective gear — routinely exceed 100 pounds per soldier, degrading mobility, increasing injury rates, and reducing combat effectiveness over time. The SMET Increment 1 is designed to carry that burden autonomously alongside a dismounted unit, following soldiers through complex terrain while also providing a source of mobile electrical power for charging batteries and running equipment in the field. That power generation capability has become increasingly valuable as soldiers carry more battery-dependent electronic systems.

The Army’s push to develop SMET Increment 2 reflects a broader modernization priority: fielding robotic and autonomous systems that extend soldier capability without adding to their physical burden. Robotic ground vehicles have moved from experimental programs to fielded systems in recent years, and the lessons learned from Increment 1 are now informing how the Army wants to evolve the platform. The 75th Innovation Command’s study is part of that feedback loop — translating operational experience into acquisition data.

Mittal summarized the study’s intent and output in the report’s conclusion: “The process concluded with the development of data-driven recommendations focused on improving SMET capability, reducing user burden, and informing future requirements and acquisition planning.” Those recommendations now sit with Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems as it advances the Increment 2 program toward formal requirements definition.