RENA, NORWAY – Freezing temperatures. Snow piled high across a barren landscape. A winter sun that barely rises above the horizon. In other words, perfect conditions to test Arctic technology for use by special forces.
The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and Norwegian Special Operations Command hosted a joint Technical Experimentation (TE) this past winter at Camp Rødsmoen in Rena, Norway, giving technology developers the opportunity to interact with special operations forces and evaluate in the field how their products potentially meet their needs.
As USSOCOM’s first-ever TE held on foreign soil, the event focused on emerging Arctic technologies designed to enhance the operational capabilities of U.S., Norwegian and Allied special forces in extreme cold-weather environments.
Another “first” was the participation of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), marking the first time the U.S. Army Engineer and Research Development Center laboratory had ever taken part in a USSOCOM TE.
As the DOD’s only cold regions research organization, the TE gave CRREL an opportunity to demonstrate its cold-weather expertise on an international scale.
“Being involved in an event like this really helps us promote our research and capabilities and spread the word about the work we do to help overcome the challenges encountered in some of Earth’s harshest and most austere cold region environments,” said Mike Parker, CRREL’s mobility research and development program lead. “It was a great opportunity to network with both U.S. and Norwegian military personnel and we’ve already been invited to multiple Arctic-related events and exercises as a result.”
Testing the THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle
The CRREL team, which in addition to Parker was comprised of Maj. Mathew Hefner (senior Arctic advisor), and Clifford Witte and Mathew Kimball (mechanical engineering and technical support), was in Norway with industry partner Milrem Robotics to put the company’s THeMIS UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) to the test.
The testing was conducted under the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense's Foreign Comparative Testing program, which evaluates mature foreign-developed technology to determine procurement alternatives for current or emerging requirements.
According to Milrem Robotics, the THeMIS is a modular, unmanned platform designed for various applications, including logistics, reconnaissance, medical evacuations and operational support. In its cargo configuration, the THeMIS enables Warfighters to transport supplies, equipment and extra weapons to the mission area, reducing workload and overall mission manpower needs.
“The real promise of UGVs and autonomous vehicles in general is that if a machine can perform a task on its own, it keeps humans out of harm’s way,” said Parker. “We can send a UGV into areas where it would just be too risky to send Warfighters.”
To accomplish the goal of testing the autonomous UGV’s capabilities in cold winter environments, the CRREL team directed the THeMIS through a variety of terrain – open areas, wooded terrain and roads – and weather and surface conditions, such as deep snow, ice and freezing rain.
“We specifically wanted to see how well the THeMIS moved autonomously through the challenging conditions, and watch it perform various logistics resupply and casualty evacuation missions,” said Parker.
Tasks given to the THeMIS during the event included autonomous leader/follower operations, towing a payload of approximately 1,200 pounds, relaying video feed and vehicle position data to offsite observers and evacuating an “injured” Warfighter to a larger wheeled platform for more expedient transport.
Coming Stateside
With a foreign-soil session under its belt, CRREL will now put the THeMIS through extensive testing statewide. Parker said that he has received inquiries from several U.S. military organizations who be following the testing’s progress.
“I have had interactions with other military branches and groups who want to come see the platform in action once it arrives at CRREL,” said Parker, who believes that as the testing results are shared throughout DoD, even more organizations will express interest in UGV applications.