The US Army Futures Command (AFC) is soliciting industry for information on emerging technologies in robotics and sensors to enhance the targeting capabilities of Army small tactical units.
The Smart Targeting Environment for Lower Level Assets – or STELLA – program will enable soldiers to use robotics to rapidly employ, build, and share target data over multiple domains. The goal is to accelerate the detection, acquisition, and identification of a target before they engage the enemy.
AFC’s major subordinate command, the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) is spearheading the program and will issue a request for information (RFI) this month. The RFI will help the Army to gauge current capabilities, ongoing research and development, and emerging trends.
“We’re developing an efficient system so there is a soldier in the loop making a decision much more quickly on what needs to be engaged. The future battlefield will include a large number of sensors detecting targets and high-value assets. With higher volumes on information, we need to ensure the soldier isn’t overwhelmed,” said Osie David, a chief engineer within CCDC’s center for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR).
Located at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, CCDC’s C5ISR is the Army’s information technologies and integrated systems center. The center’s mission is to develop and integrate C5ISR technologies that enable information dominance and decisive lethality for the networked soldier. It conducts research and development programs in the areas of command, power and integration; intelligence and information warfare; night vision and electronic sensors; and space and terrestrial communications — linking various technology producers including industry, academia and the foreign sector as well as other government agencies.
C5ISR Center anticipates releasing a request for proposal, or RFP, in early 2020. The STELLA program is scheduled to begin in fall 2020.