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Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport SMET

Infantry Soldiers often carry an array of supplies and gear that together can weigh anywhere from 60 to 120 pounds. The Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport SMET vehicle, which the Army expects to field in just under three years, is designed to take the load off the Soldier. The directed requirement is to carry 1,000 pounds of the Soldier load. That 1,000 pounds is not just for one Soldier, of course, but for an entire Infantry squad -- typically about nine Soldiers. The SMET requirements include: carry 1000 pounds, operate over 60 miles in 72 hours, and generate 3 kilowatts of power stationary and 1 kilowatt while moving.

With the S-MET (pronounced "Ess-Met") program, a phased, quicker acquisition plan allowed the Army to make informed program decisions based on direct Soldier feedback on commercially available technology -- fielding equipment faster than typical processes allow. The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) conducted a Market Survey / Source Sought in June 2016 to support a technology readiness assessment of the Squad Multi-purpose Equipment Transport vehicle (SMET).

The capabilities of interest are related to the following Areas of Interest (AOIs):

• AOI 1: SMET vehicle must be survivable against chemical, biological, and nuclear attack
• AOI 2: SMET vehicle must demonstrate resilience against a cyber attack
• AOI 3: SMET vehicle operator control unit provides guided prompts to lead operators through tasks and ability to function as a desk side trainer
• AOI 4: SMET fully loaded in a combat configuration will have an operational range of 96KM (large variant*) and 48KM (small variant**) without external resupply
• AOI 5: SMET is capable of carrying 1000 pounds of equipment (large variant) and 500 pounds (small variant)
• AOI 6: SMET fully loaded is capable of crossing a 30” gap, laterally traverse terrain in forward and reverse on dry hard surface slopes of 30%, and climb and descend in forward and reverse on dry hard surface slopes of 60%.
• AOI 7: SMET is capable of maintaining 3.7MPH with a full combat load in various terrain conditions, and a burst speed of 0-12MPH within 10 seconds for 100M
• AOI 8: SMET is capable of operating day and night in all weather conditions
• AOI 9: SMET is capable of displaying an accurate measurement of fuel remaining and a low fuel remaining (1/8th of a tank) to the operator control unit
• AOI 10: SMET operator control unit weighs less than 5 pounds, operate in adverse weather conditions (rain, cold, heat, high humidity), provide a readable by night vision goggles display with video and sensor data describing system status, have a battery life of six hours while operational, and a non-proprietary physical and software architecture and interfaces that allow for the control of future modular payloads (sensor, manipulator arms, etc.)
• AOI 11: The SMET with combat load must be water resistant and allow operation in up to 24” of standing/moving fresh or salt water without causing damage to the system
• AOI 12: SMET can recognize and avoid dismounted Soldiers by a minimum of 5 meters
• AOI 13: SMET is inaudible to the human ear at 300M in open and rolling terrain while moving with full combat load
• AOI 14: SMET is capable of recharging all rechargeable batteries typically found in a dismounted army infantry platoon
• AOI 15: SMET is capable of allowing a Soldier to move the SMET without the use of the operator control unit
• AOI 16: SMET has an emergency stop system that is easily accessible from the exterior of the vehicle and through the operator control unit that will immediately halt the movement of the SMET
• AOI 17: SMET operator control unit will display an integrated health management system with vehicle status and fault/failure identification
• AOI 18: SMET is capable of operating in a global position system denied environment up to 50 meters from the Soldier in a leader follower role
• AOI 19: SMET has lifting, tie downs and cargo restraint provisions in accordance with MIL-STD-209
• AOI 20: SMET is capable of off-loading electrical power at 3kW (Large variant) and 1kW (small variant)
• AOI 21: SMET is capable of interoperable operations with the current force radio waveforms within a Counter Radio Electronic Warfare (CREW) environment
• AOI 22: SMET is capable of the hasty casualty evacuation of one Soldier, store two collapsible litters and a combat lifesaver bag, and capable of operating in a full combat configuration with the various mission payloads (robotic arm, cameras, Anti-personnel Obstacle Breaching System (APOBS), rake/roller system, trip wire cutter, electronic jammers, small robotic deployment system, squad level Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) sensors, M4A1 chemical agent alarm, Radiac Set AN/UDR 13/14/15, and communication relay).
• AOI 23: SMET is capable of waypoint navigation to preprogrammed waypoints while traveling on defined trails and unimproved roads; the platform allows for the input and storage of waypoints during mission operations on the move
• AOI 24: SMET is capable leader follower operations; up to four SMETs following a designated Soldier’s (leader) path between 5 and 50M line of sight from the Soldier and another SMET
• AOI 25: SMET is capable of operating with JP8 fuel, lithium batteries, or hybrid design utilizing both?
• AOI 26: SMET is capable of utilizing stability control in order to avoid tipping over
• AOI 27: SMET must be capable of moving with a military convoy at steady speeds of 45MPH over unimproved roads
• AOI 28: SMET life cycle costs (programmatic and reliability growth)

In July 2014, the Government entered into an Other Transaction Agreement with one (1) consortium, the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) (formerly the Robotics Technology Consortium), in support of Ground Vehicle Systems related Research and Development prototype projects. It was the intent of the Government to make project award(s) to member(s) of the NAMC as a result of member project proposals submitted via the Request for Project Proposals process.

The Army issued a directed requirement in April 2017 for a rapid materiel acquisition aimed at unburdening infantry brigade combat teams with a robotic capability. To fast-track the acquisition process, the Army's Program Executive Office for Combat Support & Combat Service Support, awarded S-MET Phase I Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements (vs. traditional Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)-based contracting methods) in June 2017 for eight platforms.

The S-MET program marks one of the Army's first Middle Tier Acquisitions (MTA) for Rapid Fielding. This acquisition approach foregoes the traditional Department of Defense 5000.02 acquisition process, streamlining the delivery and fielding of capabilities within a period of five years. Use of the MTA approach was granted by Congress in the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act Section 804.

In November 2017, the Army held a "fly-off" at Fort Benning, Georgia, where 10 contenders for the SMET competed with each other. Only the developers of the vehicles were involved in the fly-off. The four contender vehicles on display at the Pentagon in June 2018 were the MRZR-X system from Polaris Industries Inc., Applied Research Associates Inc. and Neya Systems LLC; the Multi-Utility Tactical Transport from General Dynamics Land Systems; the Hunter Wolf from HDT Global; and the RS2-H1 system from Howe and Howe Technologies. Each was loaded down with gear representative of what they would be expected to carry when one of them is actually fielded to the Army. Nine ruck sacks, six boxes of MREs and four water cans. This is about the equivalent of what a long-range mission for a light Infantry unit would need to carry.

These small vehicles, Hanson said, are expected to follow along with a squad of Soldiers as they walk to wherever it is they have been directed to go. The requirement for the vehicles is that they be able to travel up to 60 miles over the course of 72 hours, she said.

Three of the vehicles are "pivot steered" to make it easier for them to maneuver in off-road environments, so that they can follow Soldiers even when there isn't a trail. One of the contenders for SMET has a steering wheel, with both a driver's seat and a passenger seat. So if a Soldier wanted to drive that vehicle, he coul. Still, the Army requirement is that the SMET be able to operate unmanned, and all four vehicles provide that unmanned capability.

All four contenders included a small, simplistic kind of remote control that a Soldier can hand-carry to control the vehicle. One of those remotes was just a light-weight hand grip with a tiny thumb-controlled joystick on top. A Soldier on patrol could carry the light-weight controller at his side. More advanced control options are also available for the SMET as well, Hanson said.

All can be operated with an operator control unit. It's a tele-operation where you have a screen and you can operate the system non-line-of-site via the cameras on the system. When Soldiers on patrol want the SMET to follow along with them, they can use the very simple controller that puts a low cognitive load on the Soldier. When they want the SMET to operate in locations where they won't be able to see it, they can use the more advanced controller with the video screen.

The Army envisions Soldiers might one day use the SMET to do things besides carry a Soldier's bags. It's for use in operations where some of the payloads are like re-trans and recon payloads in the future. In that situation, it would be better for a Soldier at a distance to be able to tele-operate the SMET into position. The "re-trans" mission would involve putting radio gear onto the SMET and then using a remote control to put the vehicle out at the farthest edge of where radio communications are able to reach. By doing so, she said, the SMET could then be part of extending that communications range farther onto the battlefield. One of the vehicles even has an option for a Soldier to clip one end of a rope to his belt and the other end to the vehicle -- and then the vehicle will just follow him wherever he walks. That's the tethered "follow-me" option.

In addition to carrying gear for Soldiers, the SMET is also expected to provide electric power to Soldiers on patrol. She said while the vehicle is moving, for instance, it is required to provide 1 kilowatt of power, and when it's standing still, it must provide 3 kW. That power could be piped into the Army's "Universal Battery Charger," which can charge a variety of batteries currently used in Soldier products. Vendors of the SMET have each been provided with a UBC so they can figure out how best to incorporate the device into their SMET submissions. Hanson said the Army hopes that the SMET could include, in some cases, up to five UBCs on board to ensure that no Soldier in an Infantry squad is ever without mobile power.

The Army did a technology demonstration to down-select to just one vehicle, from the remaining four. To do that, the Army first provided copies of the competing SMET vehicles to two Army Infantry units, one at Fort Drum, New York, and one at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Additionally, Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, also got a set of the vehicles.

The program of record would begin in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, after which the Army will go into low-rate initial production on the SMET. By the second or third quarter of FY 2021, the first Army unit can expect to have the new vehicle fielded to them. The Army set a base price of $100,000 for the SMET. The proposed contract(s) will be five-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), and non-commercial contract for up to 1,014 S-MET systems.

General Dyanmics Land Systems' Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) is a rugged, reliable small-unit force multiplier providing increased persistence, protection and projection. As a controllerless small-unit robotic follower, it lightens the load throughout the full gamut of combat operations. As a remote-controlled or teleoperated teammate, it provides stand-off from threats or increased projection of combat power. The MUTT is engineered to easily evolve to accommodate new payloads, new controllers and increased levels of autonomy. MUTT provides MUM-T 1.0 capability today.

On October 31, 2019 the Army selected General Dynamics Land Systems to produce the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport, or S-MET, to lighten Soldiers' loads by providing Infantry Brigade Combat Teams a robotic "mule" capability. The contract is valued at $162.4 million to produce 624 S-METs. Delivery to Soldiers begins in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2021.