Clearer military requirements could unlock UGV market growth
Western armies continue to test uncrewed ground vehicles, but wider procurement will depend on turning ambitions for autonomy into defined operational roles and funded requirements.
Cubic to enhance USMC I-TESS II combat training system
Cubic will provide the US Marine Corps (USMC) with new weapons simulation capabilities under a new contract announced on 31 October. The contract, valued in excess of $10 million, will see the company supply weapon instrumentation that will integrate into the Instrumented-Tactical Engagement Simulation System (I-TESS II).
I-TESS II is a fully integrated ground combat training system based on the company’s latest laser-based wireless instrumentation products. The system is used in military operations in urban terrain facilities and non-live fire manoeuvre ranges located at various USMC bases and installations.
The company will work on designing and developing enhancements to the squad immersive training environment (SITE). It will also integrate the enhancements with I-TESS II, and perform test and evaluation work.
Dave Schmitz, president, Cubic Defense Systems, said: ‘This system will provide the USMC an exceptional training environment using proven components. Our enhancements address current training proficiency and readiness gaps at the squad-level and will be used to support both direct force-on-force and force-on-target tactical engagement training. We are proud to support our marines with this more sophisticated and realistic training experience.’
Engineering work for the training systems is expected to be completed by 2017.
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