Hanwha Aerospace announced on Feb. 29 that it has submitted a bid proposal on the US Army’s Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S–MET) Increment II program.
An Anduril-led S-MET Project consortium also includes Hanwha Aerospace and Forterra, an unmanned vehicle developer.
Anduril is a defense technology company founded by Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey after he left Facebook (currently known as Meta) in 2017. Unlike other large defense companies, it has drawn attention from the U.S. defense industry by focusing on unmanned technology and software development.
Hanwha Aerospace is supporting the development of a hybrid multipurpose unmanned vehicle platform that can run in various terrains required by the U.S. Army based on its Arion-S-MET technology.
Arion-S-MET technology already participated in Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) at a U.S. Marine Corps base in Hawaii in December 2023. In the test, the technology was recognized for its various autonomous driving functions and transportation capabilities.
“This partnership is an opportunity to showcase the agility and innovation of Hanwha Aerospace in the U.S. market,” said John Kelly, president of Hanwha Aerospace U.S. “We are confident that the U.S. S-MET project will take Arion-S-MET technology to the next level.”
“By combining Hanwha Aerospace’s manufacturing capabilities, Anduril’s software development capabilities, and Fortera’s unmanned technology development capabilities, we will develop powerful unmanned vehicles that are easy to operate,” said Zack Mears, executive vice president of strategy at Anduril.