WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Textron Systems Corp., affiliated to Textron Inc. (TXT) company, announced Monday a collaboration with Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a self-driving technology developer for the trucking and defense markets, to develop an uncrewed military ground vehicle specifically designed for driverless operations.
In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Textron shares were losing around 2.2 percent to trade at $87.17.
The vehicle, intended for advanced terrain environments, will be designed without space for a driver.
Under the deal, Kodiak will integrate its autonomous system, the Kodiak Driver, into a Textron Systems prototype, purpose-built uncrewed military vehicle. The firms expect to demonstrate driverless operations later in 2024.
The companies expect to bring cutting-edge artificial intelligence or AI powered, autonomous technologies to military customers.
The system being developed by the companies will operate using the same core technology that's embedded within Kodiak's autonomous long-haul trucks, which have been validated across nearly 3 million miles of real-world operations.
The vehicle will also feature Kodiak DefensePods, an adapted version of Kodiak's modular, swappable SensorPods, designed for military use.
Afterwards, Textron Systems and Kodiak intend to jointly explore future opportunities with both the U.S. DoD and the militaries of other allied nations.
In December 2023, Kodiak launched its first autonomous test vehicle designed specifically for the DoD, a Ford F-150 upfit with Kodiak's autonomous technology.
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