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Unmanned ground and air systems operating in collaboration have the potential to provide future Joint Forces a significant capability for operations in complex terrain. Ground and air collaborative engagements potentially offer force conservation, perform timely acquisition and dissemination of essential combat information, and can eliminate high value and time critical targets. These engagements can also add considerably to force survivability by reducing soldier and equipment exposure during critical operations. The Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Robotics Program (JRP) sponsored Collaborative Engagement Experiment (CEE) is a consolidation of separate Air Force, Army and Navy collaborative efforts to provide a Joint capability. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Material and Manufacturing Directorate, Aerospace Expeditionary Force Division, Force Protection Branch (AFRL\MLQF), The Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Joint Technology Center (JTC)/Systems Integration Laboratory (SIL), and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center-San Diego (SSC San Diego) are conducting technical research and proof of principle for an envisioned operational concept for extended range, three dimensional, collaborative operations between unmanned systems, with enhanced situational awareness for lethal operations in complex terrain. This program will assess information requirements and conduct experiments to identify and resolve technical risks for collaborative engagements using Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). It will research, develop and physically integrate multiple unmanned systems and conduct live collaborative experiments. Modeling and Simulation systems will be upgraded to reflect engineering fidelity levels to greater understand technical challenges to operate as a team. This paper will provide an update of a multi-year program and will concentrate primarily on the JTC/SIL efforts. Other papers will outline in detail the Air Force and Navy portions of this effort.
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