The Army is preparing to bring commercial autonomous vehicle technology onto its installations, potentially allowing soldiers to travel across base without relying on other troops to drive them. The vehicles could carry personnel to field exercises, training events, official ceremonies and other duty locations.

Officials at Fort Benning, Georgia, have begun testing autonomous cars and vans through a pilot tied to a larger Department of War effort. The initiative is examining replacements for support vehicles used to transport troops and move heavy supplies for field exercises.

“Every day, thousands of initial-entry trainees, permanent-party cadre, and tenant unit soldiers move across Fort Benning’s expansive ranges, cantonment areas, and support facilities,” Charles Auer, head of the autonomous vehicle pilot at the Georgia base, said in an Army news release.

The Army and the Defense Innovation Unit launched the Robotic Operation for Autonomous Delivery and Sustainment challenge in May. Commercial companies can compete for up to $30 million in prizes by proposing autonomous replacements for more than 150,000 sedans, SUVs, trucks and vans in the Department of War fleet.

According to the Defense Innovation Unit, the project is intended to reduce demands placed on military personnel and lower transportation costs. Some troops currently operate trucks as an assigned duty, even when the work involves routine deliveries around an installation.

“We want vehicles that let our soldiers operate more safely, more efficiently, and over time, give them more time to focus on core soldier activities other than driving water and MREs around post,” said Alex Miller, Chief Technology Officer for the Army Chief of Staff.

Five companies were selected to advance to the next stage and test their vehicles and autonomous systems at Fort Benning and Fort Hood, Texas. They are Applied Intuition, Forterra/May Mobility, Perrone Robotics, Overland AI/Gatik and Bot Auto.

Fort Benning officials said their pilot will proceed through several phases. During the first few weeks, people will drive the vehicles around the base while collecting video and other data needed to develop the maps and GPS information used by the autonomous systems.

The mapping routes will “explicitly exclude” sensitive locations, according to officials. Those restricted areas include the base airfield, ammunition supply points and tactical compounds.

After the mapping phase, the selected companies will conduct autonomous development and safety testing through the end of 2026. Human supervision will remain part of the process before any vehicle is permitted to operate without a driver aboard.

“Safety remains the overriding priority throughout this pilot,” Auer said. “Before we transition to completely driverless operations, each vehicle will undergo rigorous testing with a safety driver on board.”

The autonomous vehicle pilot is the latest effort to modernize the military’s support fleet. In 2021, President Biden signed an executive order calling for federal government vehicles to be replaced with zero emission cars, vans and trucks over the following decade.

The Army released its own climate strategy in 2022. That document said the service had already replaced 18,000 fuel powered support vehicles with electric or hybrid models.

Fort Benning officials plan to bring four electric vehicles and two hybrid vehicles into the pilot. Those six vehicles will come from three of the five private companies involved in the broader testing effort.

Forterra, one of the companies selected for testing at Fort Benning, said its technology includes a command and control system. The system provides commanders with a live map and dashboard showing every vehicle while allowing them to adjust requirements and parameters for the installation.

The company said soldiers would eventually be able to request a vehicle through a rideshare application. Such a setup would place the autonomous vehicles into an on demand transportation role for troops moving between locations on base.

Forterra also said it has already fielded more than 250 autonomous systems for Department of War programs. Those systems include robotaxis used by soldiers at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

According to Forterra, it was among the first American companies to deploy ground autonomous systems in Ukraine. The company also said its systems have assisted with dozens of casualty evacuation missions during the war.