Crusher - futuristic Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle

Spinner’s demonstrated performance during two years of intense testing in extremely rugged terrain exceeded these metrics.

As prime contractor, NREC managed the performance of over 30 trade studies, risk reduction activities, subsystem design and test activities. NREC also led all integration and assembly operations, and executed all performance testing. Additionally, NREC was responsible for many subsystems, including thermal management, prime power, ride height control, braking, safety, command station, OCU, communications, and teleoperation. Moreover, NREC developed all the vehicle positioning, automation, data gathering and data analysis systems that were used on a continuous basis to test the vehicle.

Following design, fabrication and assembly, Spinner completed two years of intense testing to assess its capability in a variety of terrains, weather conditions, and operational scenarios. For example, during a government-controlled field test at the Yuma, Arizona Proving Grounds, Spinner covered nearly 100 miles of very rough off-road terrain.

The 6.5-ton Crusher combines Spinner's strength and mobility with NREC-developed autonomy capabilities to create an extremely robust unmanned ground combat vehicle that can operate in complex terrain.

Crusher and Spinner feature technologies that are six to 10 years ahead of their time and give an unprecedented glimpse into the future capabilities of unmanned military vehicles. Crusher will undergo extensive field tests for the next two years. The platform is expected to influence future unmanned vehicle design efforts funded by the Army's Future Combat System.

Crusher has a new space frame hull designed by CTC Technologies and made from high-strength aluminum tubes and titanium nodes. A suspended and shock-mounted skid plate made from high-strength steel allows Crusher to shrug off massive, below-hull strikes from boulders and tree stumps.

The nose was completely redesigned for Crusher to sustain normal impacts with trees and brush while also absorbing the impact of major collisions.

As a core building block in the Army's future force, tactical UGVs enable new war-fighting capabilities while putting fewer soldiers in harm's way. The full benefit of this new capability can only be achieved with field-validated understanding of UGV technology limits and consideration of the impact to Army doctrine, personnel, platforms and infrastructure.

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