L3Harris, the defense contractor responsible for much of the United States military and law enforcement equipment, has unveiled the latest in its unsettlingly capable surveillance technology. At the Association of the US Army’s annual meeting last week, the company showed off Diamondback, a self-driving reconnaissance vehicle with drone support, radio integration, and more.
With its gray, angular exterior, Diamondback looks a bit like a miniature Cybertruck. The vehicle’s surveillance and communication capabilities primarily rely on the vehicle’s target optic, high-capacity line-of-sight (HCLOS) radio, and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) radio, which allow it to watch and listen to anyone who’s gotten onto the military’s bad side. These features are supported by L3Harris’ auto-PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency) technology, which blends and transfers network traffic to different satellite constellations to ensure constant, uninterrupted communication with mission control.
Credit: L3Harris
But Diamondback’s surveillance abilities aren’t limited to its own footprint. Although Diamondback has four rugged wheels that allow it to traverse a range of terrain types, the vehicle also incorporates multi-drone support that lends situational awareness and intelligence-gathering solutions to several unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at once. This means that while Diamondback operates autonomously, it can also manage surveillance offshoots. A partnership with Overland AI, an off-road autonomy firm, enables Diamondback to assess its surroundings and develop low-risk routes in real time, while anti-jam positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technology wards off system interference.
The robot is reportedly meant to replace manned vehicles in ground-based military missions. L3Harris says Diamondback can serve as a point of “first contact” in situations that contain unknown variables or threaten human personnel’s safety, hence the vehicle’s hardy exterior. In this way, Diamondback joins a series of other robots designed to survive hazardous environments on humans’ behalf—though L3Harris has not said whether Diamondback is made of bulletproof or fireproof material, which would probably be a game-changer in the situations the vehicle is meant for.