Modern Day Marine 2026: Textron developing new wheeled UGV

Textron Systems unveiled a technology demonstrator for its upcoming M1 line of unmanned ground vehicles at Modern Day Marine on 28 April 2026. (Courtesy of Textron Systems)

Textron Systems is developing a new 4x4 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that the company hopes the US Marine Corps (USMC) will use alongside the service's primary ground vehicles, the Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) and Advanced Combat Vehicle (ACV), an executive told Janes on 27 April.

The M1 technology demonstrator will be display at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, DC, for the first time on 28 April, said Sara Willet, vice-president of programmes at Textron Systems. The company is displaying it to get USMC feedback on the vehicle before creating the final production version, she said.

“I don't have a specific timeline for when we think we want this to transition to that end-state vehicle because I think we're really looking forward ... to working with the marine corps to ensure that the vehicle fits within the requirements that they are looking for”, she said.

At the event, a Damocles unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is integrated into the demonstrator. The loitering munition is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft equipped with an explosively formed penetrator (EFP), according to an October 2025 Textron statement. It has a “fully autonomous” search and attack capability and the option to “ground loiter”, the statement said. Damocles is designed for anti-armour, and Textron Systems recently won an award for the US Army's Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) programme of record, the company said in a February 2026 statement.