The U.S. Army wants to transform M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle into a robotic heavily armored vehicle to breach minefields, complex obstacles providing in-stride breaching.
The Army is seeking information for possible upgrades to Assault Breacher Vehicle for provides the option for either manned or unmanned operation., according to a U.S. government’s main contracting website.
The market survey states that the Army is looking to gather information on companies that can add tele-operational control of the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV), a fielded US Army system.
The M1150 ABV Remote Control System (RCS) will be a multivehicle system composed of an Operator Control Unit (OCU) man-portable kit, that can be installed in the command and control M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle with OCU A-kit (brackets, cables, other integration equipment), and the M1150 ABV itself.
Operating within this concept, the M1150 ABV in RCS configuration will operate in pairs: one equipped with a Full Width Mine Plow and one equipped with a Combat Dozer Blade. The purpose of the RCS is to offset soldiers from the dangerous breach activity completed by the ABV. The RCS provides the option for either manned or unmanned operations.
When in operation, the RCS will have the capability to tele-operate the ABV in day and night, including all automotive functions, the Full Width Mine Plow and Combat Dozer Blade front end attachments, the Lane Marking System, the Linear Demolition Charge System, and self-obscuration system. To enable the RCS, the ABV operators move from the ABV to a Bradley Fighting Vehicle – the command and control vehicle – by dismounting, installing, and operating the man-portable kit inside the Bradley. The control interfaces to the aforementioned functions and various subsystems will not be provided to the contractor as Government Furnished Information.
Also noted that the RCS command station shall be able to be installed and operated from the Stryker vehicle.
According to the document, the contractor will be responsible for reverse engineering the interfaces and develop a Remote Control System.
