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A Maine robotics company is in the running to build the Army's next generation of battlefield support vehicles.
Waterboro-based Howe and Howe Technologies is competing with three other firms for a massive government contract to build autonomous vehicles that will carry ammunition and supplies into combat with Army ground forces.
"It is going to be a huge thing in the future, as big as drones or Humvees," said Michael Howe, who owns the company with his twin, Geoffrey. The Army is expected to order thousands of the units by 2020.
[...] To get to this point, Howe and Howe had to pass a grueling field test of their vehicle in the thick swamps and forests of Fort Benning, Georgia.
[...] The outcome, however, was worth it. Howe and Howe passed the trials, beating major defense companies like Lockheed Martin and AM General, which builds the Humvee, and moving onto the next phase of product development.
[...] The other companies moving onto the next development phase are General Dynamics Land Systems, HDT Global and a combined effort from Applied Research Associates and Polaris Defense.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday January 03 2018, @03:00PM
This is the US defense budget we're talking about. Where they take agencies tasked with surveillance of foreign governments and task them with siphoning up every domestic communication that exists. Where we spend billions on unnecessary military hardware and then ship the "surplus" to domestic law enforcement. Where we've got anti-landmine tanks patrolling suburban Wisconsin neighborhoods.
These make a lot more sense if you assume they aren't designed for our current wars but for our backyards. That's *definitely* where they're going to end up.
...either that, or someone's planning on invading China...