Key Points
- The U.S. Marine Corps awarded Kodiak AI a contract to integrate its autonomous Kodiak Driver system into the ROGUE-Fires unmanned ground vehicle platform.
- The effort supports testing of autonomous operations for distributed maritime missions and expeditionary force deployment in contested environments.
The United States Marine Corps has awarded Kodiak AI a contract to support development of autonomous military ground vehicles by integrating its AI-powered driving system into the Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary Fires (ROGUE-Fires) platform, according to the monitoring group Counter Unmanned Systems.
Counter Unmanned Systems reported that Kodiak will integrate its dual-use autonomous driving technology, known as the Kodiak Driver, into the Marine Corps’ ROGUE-Fires carrier vehicle. The effort focuses on advancing autonomous operations supporting distributed maritime missions and expeditionary force operations.
ROGUE-Fires is a remotely operated ground vehicle designed to enable distributed maritime operations, sea denial missions, and expeditionary force projection. The system is intended to operate across wide geographic areas and contested terrain, particularly in Indo-Pacific operational environments where mobility and survivability are central requirements.
– ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW –
Kodiak will integrate its existing autonomous software stack and hardware interfaces into the platform to demonstrate system maturity and modular deployment. The integration is intended to allow the Marine Corps to evaluate how autonomous ground vehicles perform during complex expeditionary missions.
Kodiak stated that the Kodiak Driver is a dual-use autonomous driving system built around artificial intelligence designed for operation in unstructured and unmapped environments. The technology has previously been tested in both commercial and defense applications.
“The Kodiak Driver is a powerful dual-use capability that leverages physical AI to strengthen defense readiness through scalable and adaptive applications in order to keep Marines out of harm’s way,” said Don Burnette, Founder and CEO of Kodiak AI. “We have extensively tested our autonomous system in our prior efforts with the military and believe this work with the Marine Corps allows us to further showcase how Kodiak’s technology performs in unstructured and unmapped environments.”
The company said the integration effort will help the Marine Corps assess how autonomous capabilities affect operational reach, mission tempo, and risk exposure during high-end expeditionary operations. ROGUE-Fires vehicles are designed to operate remotely or autonomously while supporting mobile missile launch and logistics functions in distributed force structures.
Kodiak’s work with the Marine Corps follows earlier defense cooperation with the U.S. Army. In 2022, the company was selected for a three-year contract supporting the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program, receiving approximately $30 million to deliver an end-to-end autonomous solution. During that effort, Kodiak conducted testing in combat-relevant environments including mountainous terrain in California, desert conditions in Texas, and winter operations in Michigan.
The Marine Corps’ ROGUE-Fires platform plays a role in expeditionary advanced base operations, enabling mobile launch capabilities designed to operate across island chains and coastal regions. Autonomous mobility is viewed as a method to sustain operations while limiting risk to personnel operating in contested areas.
