STRATOM, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: AF103-159

Description

Currently, the Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) resupply doctrine is hazardous to Marines and the transport aircraft (MV-22 or CH-53) as it potentially exposes Marines and aircraft to enemy hostilities for a significant duration of time as 120mm mortar ammo is unloaded manually from the aircraft by, often, low density, high demand Marines in hot landing zones. Thus, the EFFS community requires a method that reduces the exposure of the transport aircraft and the Marines on the ground by allowing a single Marine to rapidly unload palletized EFSS ammunition from the aircraft and transport the ammunition over austere terrain from and back to the landing zone. Stratom proposes to address this need for rapid unloading and transportation of the mortar rounds, and other palletized cargo from a MV-22 or CH-53, by developing a self-propelled robotic pallet (SPRP) vehicle that is capable of rapidly transporting cargo in and out the aircraft over unimproved terrain, while requiring only minimal input and control from a single Marine operator. Furthermore, by developing a multi-use heliborne robotic vehicle the SPRP can be used in additional mission application areas such as air-to-ground or ship-to-shore resupply, and the movement of palletized cargo at forward operating bases.