DARPA ordered the development of futuristic combat vehicles

The research agency DARPA has entered into eight contracts with private companies and universities for the development of infantry fighting vehicles under the Ground X-Vehicle Technology (GXV-T) program.

According to the requirements of the program, new generation BMPs must successfully withstand modern weapons, but without the use of heavy armor, weight gain and other factors that impair vehicle mobility and speed.

The cars must be lightweight and easily transported by transport helicopters, have an innovative configuration of the chassis and an extremely high speed of movement over rough terrain, including using the autopilot. A 360 degree view is provided by augmented reality sensors and displays.



New combat vehicles will be able to climb steep slopes, automatically go around obstacles, demonstrating high maneuverability and radically improved mobility. To protect the car, it is proposed to use, for example, “active armor”, which can move in vertical and horizontal planes, as well as technologies for masking signatures of visible, infrared, acoustic and electromagnetic radiation.

Evasion of RPGs


“GXV-T participants will challenge the more armor-more protection axiom, which has limited the design of armored vehicles for the past 100 years,” said program director Major Christopher Orlowski. - and pave the way for innovative, breakthrough vehicles of the 21st century and beyond. ”



The GXV-T program was announced in August 2014 , and now a list of organizations has been identified, which presented the most interesting projects. They will receive further funding to create working prototypes.

The following organizations received contracts:

• Carnegie mellon university
• Honeywell International Inc.
• Leidos
• Pratt & miller
• QinetiQ Inc. (Great Britain)
• Raytheon BBN
• Southwest Research Institute
• SRI International