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Army Picks Four Firms for Autonomous Breaching Prototypes

The move launches demonstrations to test robots that can breach obstacles remotely, feeding unit-level assessment results into production decisions.

Overview

  • The Army announced Wednesday that Caterpillar, Forterra, IDV USA and Overland AI were selected to develop systems for the Engineer Autonomous Breaching Capability program.
  • The announced selections are not yet finalized and formal contract awards are expected in the coming weeks before any work starts under the contracts.
  • The goal of the effort is to field beyond-line-of-sight ground robots that can rapidly clear obstacles and minefields to reduce soldier exposure and speed the movement of follow-on forces.
  • After awards, vendors will run demos and tests that culminate in a Transformation in Contact unit assessment in early 2027 to collect direct, unit-level feedback that will inform any production choice.
  • The EABC work is part of a broader CPE Mission Autonomy refocus on three priorities—combat engineering, agile sustainment and fires—and follows related prototype selections and commercial solicitations for logistics, casualty evacuation and autonomous bridge systems.