Commercial truck startup Harbinger is partnering with the robotics experts at American Rheinmetall to develop an uncrewed military ground vehicle based on the company’s medium duty hybrid and electric truck chassis.
When Harbinger debuted its new medium-duty EREV chassis last summer with more than 500 miles of combined range, it grabbed the attention of many people in the industry who wanted a cleaner, more cost-effective way to move goods from point A to point B, but didn’t know if they could trust America’s existing EV infrastructure – and American Rheinmetall is hoping that list of people includes buyers at the Department of War.
Under the new agreement, Harbinger will provide its high-performance, hybrid-electric and fully drive-by-wire medium duty chassis, while Rheinmetall provides vehicle integration, mission systems, and modular autonomous architecture tech.
“Harbinger has always built for the toughest commercial missions, and the Warfighter’s mission is the toughest of all,” explains John Harris, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Harbinger. “Partnering with American Rheinmetall, one of the most capable ground systems integrators serving the DoW, allows us to bring our autonomy-ready platform at a price point that makes true attritable mass possible. Together, we can give Soldiers robotic systems that are affordable enough to be everywhere they’re needed, and tough enough to do the job when they get there. Most importantly, by taking the driver out of the vehicle with advanced autonomy and teleoperation, we can keep service men and women out of harm’s way.”
Joint demonstrations of the big robotic pack mule are set to being this summer, with near-term prototyping opportunities through Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs), Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs), and traditional programs of record commencing if the proof of concept is well-received.
Electrek’s Take
Harbinger CEO John Harris visited Quick Charge following Work Truck Week, where we talked through the brand’s new low cab forward BEV and EREV trucks, their industry-first battery deal with Airstream, and more. Give it a listen (above), then let us know what you think of Harbinger’s new-age robotic GP in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: American Rheinmetall.
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