Rheinmetall Unveils New Robotic Ground Vehicle

Rheinmetall presented Autonomous Combat Warrior Wiesel, a new robotic ground vehicle based on the Wiesel platform, on Friday.

The Wiesel vehicle is driven by an autonomous kit which is applicable to a variety of both tracked and wheeled vehicle systems such as Boxer, Lynx or HX tactical trucks, Rheinmetall tweeted Friday.

New combat vehicles could enable robot vehicles to carry supplies, test enemy defenses and even fire weapons – all while manned vehicles operate at a safer distance.

The Rheinmetall vehicle can be operated manually, remote-controlled or in full autonomous mode by programming waypoints on a tablet. It can avoid obstacles autonomously and it can also follow a lead vehicle in convoy mode.

Next-generation features include detecting soldier behavior and off-road terrain. The goal is improving soldier safety by keeping operators out of harm’s way.