Ripsaw M5 and M3. (Textron Systems)

The US Army has selected four companies that will build two prototypes each for the service's Robotic Combat Vehicle-Light (RCV-L) programme, officials announced on 20 September.

Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, McQ Inc, and Oshkosh Defense were awarded the contracts, which task them with delivering prototypes by August 2024. The companies will also go through a preliminary design review during the first phase, David Phillips, senior vice-president of Textron Systems' Land and Sea Systems, told Janes on 22 September.

The army will hold a competition between the first-phase awardees for the second-phase contracts, according to an army press release. A single winner will be selected in fiscal year (FY) 2025 to finalise system designs, build, and deliver up to nine full-system prototypes in FY 2026, the release said. Further testing will support a follow-on production decision in FY 2027, with first unit fielding planned for FY 2028.

“Human-machine integrated teams are the future of successful ground combat in the land domain,” said Brigadier General Geoffrey Norman, director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross Functional Team.

DDD (Drone Detective & Disabilitating System), pictured above from TADTE 2023, can detect UAVs within a range of 25 km. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)

Taiwan's GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology signed a transfer of technology (ToT) agreement with Fortunio Japan to manufacture the latter's counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) known as ‘DDD (Drone Detective & Disabilitating System)' in Taiwan at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) held in Taipei from 14 to 16 September.

A GEOSAT spokesperson told Janes at the showthat the system will be offered to the Republic of China (RoC) Armed Forces to meet the service's C-UAV requirements.

According to the company specifications, the DDD can detect UAVs within a range of 25 km.

The DDD comprises three units: detection head unit, tripod, and software and personal computer. The circular detection head unit is mounted on the tripod with an overall height and weight of 1,430 mm and 35 kg respectively.

The height, weight, and diameter of the head unit are 150 mm, 7 kg, and 375 mm respectively. The system can be mounted on a ship or a military vehicle, the spokesperson added.

IDV Robotics' Viking UGV at DSEI 2023 (Janes/Ares Simone Monzio Compagnoni)

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) has purchased two IDV Robotics Viking Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Janes has learned.

Speaking at DSEI 2023 in London, IDV Robotics' head of sales and marketing, Robert Mohacsi, said that the vehicles will undergo testing for operations in extreme weather conditions.

The Viking UGV is a 6×6 electric and diesel hybrid platform that features a large payload bay. It is primarily designed to operate as a robotic mule and transport up to 750 kg. At DSEI 2023, IDV Robotics also displayed a variant equipped with a 12.7 mm Machine Gun (MG) and a Thales FZ602 LGR Launcher. Janes understands that IDV Robotics is planning to perform firing tests within the next year.

According to the company, the Viking can operate in temperatures from -20 to 39 ˚C. On a flat road at the nominal temperature of 20 ˚C the range in electric and hybrid modes is 20 and 250 km respectively.