The U.S. Army is in the process of establishing requirements for a new unmanned ground transport vehicle that will be larger than the robotic mule but smaller than a transport truck, as disclosed by a service official to Breaking Defense. Kevin Mills, the deputy executive director for the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center, emphasized that the requirements are still in the preliminary stages and that significant work remains to define them. However, he noted a clear need that the Army has recognized and intends to address.

Mills explained, “We have the Palletized Load System (PLS) for larger tactical resupply trucks and the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET), which creates a noticeable gap between the two.” The SMET is a compact, eight-wheeled robot capable of transporting approximately 1,000 pounds of equipment and supplies on the battlefield, while the PLS is a substantial logistics truck weighing over 50,000 pounds.

To address this gap, the Army is designating the new initiative as the Medium Multipurpose Equipment Transport (MMET). “That’s why we refer to it as medium,” Mills clarified. “We aim to conduct some experimentation to refine the requirements, but we are still in the early stages.”

Currently, the Combined Arms Support Command’s Sustainment Center of Excellence is drafting the MMET requirements, and various industry stakeholders are anticipating further details regarding the forthcoming plans. Should the development of the medium transport advance, it will complement a range of other ground robots being developed by the Army, including the SMET robotic mule, the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV), and the Ground Expeditionary Autonomy Retrofit Systems (GEARS).

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