GDLS to roll out drone-killer robot, tank-launched switchblades, more at AUSA

WASHINGTON — General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) is planning to unveil three new capabilities related to counter-UAS capabilities, loitering munitions and lower signature command posts at next week’s annual AUSA conference.

While not to fulfill a specific Army requirement, the product launches come as the company makes adaptations to further align with the sprawling Army Transformation Initiative, company executives told Breaking Defense.

“The capabilities that we’ll show at AUSA are complementary to the ATI efforts and have potential landing spots in Transformation in Contact units,” Geoff Norman, director of US strategy and growth, told Breaking Defense in a statement. “We’re locked in step with the Army, we’re fired up about the future, and I think what you’re going to see at AUSA really supports where the Army is headed.”

The Drone-killing TRX Leonidas

In an effort to bolster its counter-UAS portfolio, GDLS partnered with Epirus for the TRX Leonidas. The solution takes Epirus’ Leonidas high-power microwave (HPM) platform and mounts it on GDLS’ Tracked Robot 10-ton (TRX) unmanned ground vehicle, creating a platform designed to shoot down drone swarms, Scott Taylor, director of US business development at GDLS, told Breaking Defense. 

Taylor said the platform hasn’t been tested yet, but during a demonstration at Camp Atterbury in late August, Epirus’ HPM capability successfully shot down dozens of drones in front of the US Army and other “foreign allies,” while mounted on a trailer.

“They were able to do six different vignettes that involved this high powered microwave on a trailer, in that case, that knocked down a 49-drone swarm in a single pulse,” Taylor said. 

He added that the development of the TRX Leonidas isn’t part of a particular Army requirement and is being developed by both of the companies’ internal funds as the Army looks for an HPM solution that is smaller in size.

“Epirus’ partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems is an industry-leading collaboration that continues to deliver real results. Together, we are bringing world-first capabilities to market that directly answer the call of the Army Transformation Initiative,” Epirus CEO Andy Lowery said in a company statement. “The marriage of neo-primes and primes is how the U.S. defense industrial base can best ensure victory as the battlefield continues to rapidly evolve.”

Further, Taylor explained that GDLS’s TRX solution was actually developed for the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) competition. The competition has been scrapped twice, but will be revamped to , Breaking Defense previously reported. As GDLS works on creating an updated, cheaper solution to fit the new RCV competition, the company is using its TRX model to fill other capability gaps within the Army, Taylor said. 

“The senior Army leadership has said that it doesn’t work to keep it on a trailer in the long term solution, and they want to see what can be developed in robotic form factor. What you’re seeing is a pairing of that with an existing robot that we have,” he said. 

Switchblade Meets The M1A2 Abrams

The next capability GDLS will showcase is its Precision Effects & Reconnaissance, Canister-Housed (PERCH) technology that was created in partnership with AeroVironment. It is a modular kit that takes GDLS’ SEPv3 version of its M1A2 Abrams tank and mounts AeroVironment’s SB300 and SB600 switchblade munitions on top, Mark Hu, manager of US business development at GDLS, told Breaking Defense. It’s specifically designed for the company level or below.

PERCH, like TRX Leonidas, is not part of an existing Army requirement, but it’s something that the companies “are just very much aware of the need for,” Hu said. The companies showcased the capability earlier this month, with an Army leader present, which led to them being invited to showcase it at a demonstration at Fort Hood for the Machine Assisted Rugged Soldier autonomous breach exercise later this month. 

“It offers extended range, really, beyond line of sight capability for both reconnaissance and lethality, by allowing us to fire these switchblade munitions … from a tank,” Hu said. “If [the Army] decides to go with this, they would determine what level that they want to employ these at, but we envision it potentially for one or two platoons, and that gives the capability down at a much lower level. So that the unit, company or below, doesn’t have to rely necessarily on getting resources from [the] battalion or from the brigade [level] to get that kind of far reaching reconnaissance.” 

“Really what it does allow is an armored unit to take loitering munitions and get them far forward on the battlefield, yet they can remain in a covering, concealed position to fire those,” he added. 

The companies developed the PERCH rapidly, Hu said, as it took them seven months to take it from a concept to a prototype. 

AeroVironment did not respond to a request for comment regarding its partnership with GDLS for the PERCH solution. 

NEXUS For Next-Gen C2

Lastly, the company will be showcasing its Next-Generation Command and Control (NGC2)-ready Expeditionary X-domain Undetectable Stryker (NEXUS) vehicle. The NEXUS is an update to GDLS’ version of its Stryker Mission Command on the Move (MCOTO) vehicle that it revealed at last year’s AUSA. The vehicle was developed to provide a more mobile solution for command posts while also creating a solution that emits a lower electromagnetic signature, so soldiers are undetectable to the adversary.  

The former solution took GDLS’ Stryker A1 and modified it by adding a higher roof and transforming it into a hybrid-electric vehicle, among other modifications. However, the Army expressed concerns that the former model was too costly, so the company rebranded it into the NEXUS, Taylor said. To save costs, the new model does not have the hybrid-electric capabilities, although it does have some “improvements” to its battery technology that give the vehicle a longer battery life, Taylor added. 

“It uses core technology in the [Stryker] A1 without a lot of change up,” Taylor said. “It reduces the signature and thermal acoustic, but still maintains the best advantages seen previously in last year.” 

The NEXUS also is not part of an existing Army requirement, but the company will be testing the vehicle at the next Project Convergence exercise — an event where several vendors show off their contributions to NGC2 —  Taylor said.