Another Infantry Squad Vehicle Bungle

The Army is rushing a contract to create a self-driving Infantry Squad Vehicle.

The U.S. Army is turning to commercial startups to fast-track autonomous ground vehicles into combat formations, awarding $15.5 million in new contracts to three companies to test self-driving systems on Infantry Squad Vehicles.

Overland AI, Forterra and Scout AI will “rapidly integrate and deliver commercial autonomous mobility into Army formations,” an Army statement published last week states. The companies are required to build prototypes as part of the “Unmanned Systems (UxS) Autonomy” program and get them to soldiers for demonstration and evaluation in May 2026.

Current efforts to develop this technology are not ready for prime time.

The Army has struggled to clear the hurdle to achieve fully-autonomous vehicles because of the inherent challenges on a modern battlefield not found on predictable roadways.

Following an off-road autonomy software assessment last year, Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, who was in charge of PEO GCS at the time, told Defense News, “The good news is we are moving forward in that area. The bad news is industry is nowhere near where people think in terms of off-road autonomy. There’s a lot of development to do.”

The Infantry Squad Vehicle is a bad idea. It doesn't have any protection whatsoever for the nine troops that it carries, not even against heat, cold, rains, snow, or high winds, let alone anyone trying to fire on the troops, even with rocks or arrows. It doesn't even offer cover to dismounted infantry. It isn't designed to minimize damage from land mines. It puts nine undefended troops where they can all be disposed of at once. 

It has no armament of its own and very little cargo capacity for the troops it is carrying, so that they can carry anti-tank missiles, heavy machine guns, mortars, or other supplies, so the infantry carried are limited to lighter small arms.

Did we learn nothing from Iraq and Afghanistan?

U.S. paratroopers would be better off with dirt bikes.

This also makes absolutely no sense to convert to a self-driving version. It is filled to the gills with soldiers who know how to drive, but has no armaments of its own. Why would it need to be self-driving?

Also, a self-driving vehicle adds one more layer of complexity to something designed to be used someplace that paratroopers had to drop in. It is one more thing that could fail.