Oshkosh Defense Demonstrates Autonomous Route Clearance Mission Capability at Eurosatory 2014

Oshkosh TerraMax® Unmanned Ground Vehicle technology increases troop safety during counter-IED Missions

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The Oshkosh® M-ATV equipped with TerraMax UGV and a mine roller (pictured) is capable of autonomous navigation for route clearance missions.

OSHKOSH, Wis.--()--Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK), will participate in daily live demonstrations at Eurosatory 2014 to showcase the company’s TerraMax® Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) technology. Attendees can observe an Oshkosh® MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) equipped with TerraMax UGV and a mine roller autonomously navigating a course that simulates military route clearance missions.

“In today’s conflicts, the frontlines have been blurred and troops carrying out logistics missions are exposed to improvised explosive devices and other lethal threats previously reserved for battle zones,” said U.S. Army Major General (Retired), John Urias, executive vice president, Oshkosh Corporation and president, Oshkosh Defense. “The Oshkosh TerraMax UGV has the potential to reduce troops’ exposure to these threats, while optimizing the number of troops needed for such operations.”

The Oshkosh TerraMax UGV enables military leaders to remove personnel from leader and/or follower vehicles traveling high risk routes and provides greater standoff distance from explosive threats. TerraMax UGV technology can readily adapt to account for mine rollers, ground penetrating radar, and other emerging systems used for the detection, disruption and pre-detonation of explosive hazards.

“Vehicles equipped with TerraMax UGV can be used in concert with manned vehicles for a spectrum of operations including logistics convoys, route clearance and counter-IED missions, airfield construction and support, and more,” said Urias. “This technology allows vehicles to operate for extended periods of time through challenging terrain, dust, darkness, rain, snow and other adverse conditions without the fatigue or loss of awareness that can afflict human operators. This capability really forces us to think differently about how we conduct certain ground operations.”

Oshkosh is conducting its TerraMax UGV product development independently and also in collaboration with the U.S. Marine Corps and Army to identify opportunities to use UGVs for route reconnaissance and route clearance missions. These current projects build upon previous contracts with the U.S. Office of Naval Research for the Cargo UGV Project, which focused on bringing UGV capabilities to logistics convoy missions and reducing troops’ exposure to threats.

About TerraMax UGV Technology

Oshkosh TerraMax UGV is a modular, multi-sensor appliqué kit that can be tightly integrated into new production vehicles or retrofitted onto legacy vehicle platforms. Vehicles equipped with the TerraMax UGV can seamlessly collaborate with manned vehicles to carry out missions at full operational tempo. TerraMax UGVs function autonomously across varying terrains and in all weather conditions, day or night – with original vehicle payload and performance retained.

Through 10 years of Oshkosh research and development, including independent and U.S. Government testing, TerraMax UGVs have the proven ability to:

  • Obey traffic laws
  • Avoid obstacles
  • Travel at self-regulated speeds
  • Operate in adverse weather conditions
  • Operate during GPS blackout for more than 10 km without performance degradation
  • Navigate rough terrain including off-road routes
  • Maintain prescribed speeds up to 55 kph / 35 mph

Troops can be trained to operate TerraMax-equipped vehicles in only a few days, as the technology is designed to support rapid deployment. The user-friendly TerraMax operator control unit (OCU) enables a single operator to supervise multiple autonomous vehicles, as well as provide follower vehicles with over-the-horizon situational awareness. The system is highly interoperable, using a widely adopted, non-proprietary, open architecture messaging standard that enables modularity and easy integration of new subsystems. Oshkosh is teamed with the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) of Carnegie Mellon University for perception system and autonomy software development.

Live demonstrations including the Oshkosh TerraMax UGV will be held at Eurosatory each day at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. outside of the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre.

Oshkosh Vehicles on Display at Eurosatory

In addition to the live demonstration of TerraMax UGV, Oshkosh Defense will showcase the M-ATV Special Forces (SXF) variant and L-ATV Base variant on-site at Eurosatory in Hall 5 at Booth D657. An Integrated Product Support (IPS) kiosk showcasing Oshkosh’s vast vehicle sustainment services will also be on-site with vehicle experts available to discuss the company’s portfolio of vehicles, technologies and services.

About Oshkosh Defense

Oshkosh Defense is a leading provider of tactical wheeled vehicles and life cycle sustainment services. For more than 90 years, Oshkosh has been mobilizing military and security forces around the globe by offering a full portfolio of heavy, medium, light and highly protected military vehicles to support our customers’ missions. In addition, Oshkosh offers advanced technologies and vehicle components such as TAK-4® independent suspension systems, TerraMax® unmanned ground vehicle solutions, Command Zone integrated control and diagnostics system, and ProPulse® diesel electric and on-board vehicle power solutions, to provide our customers with a technical edge as they fulfill their missions. Every Oshkosh vehicle is backed by a team of defense industry experts and complete range of sustainment and training services to optimize fleet readiness and performance.

To learn more about Oshkosh Defense, please visit us at www.oshkoshdefense.com.

About Oshkosh Corporation

Oshkosh Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty access equipment, commercial, fire & emergency and military vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corporation manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh®, JLG®, Pierce®, McNeilus®, Jerr-Dan®, Frontline, CON-E-CO®, London® and IMT®. Oshkosh products are valued worldwide in businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, please visit www.oshkoshcorporation.com.

®, TM All brand names referred to in this news release are trademarks of Oshkosh Corporation or its subsidiary companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the cyclical nature of the Company’s access equipment, commercial and fire & emergency markets, which are particularly impacted by the pace of U.S. and European economic recoveries; the strength of emerging market growth and projected adoption rate of work at height machinery; the expected level and timing of DoD and international defense customer procurement of products and services and funding thereof; risks related to reductions in government expenditures in light of U.S. defense budget pressures, sequestration and an uncertain DoD tactical wheeled vehicle strategy, including the Company’s ability to successfully manage the cost reductions required as a result of lower customer orders in the defense segment; the Company’s ability to win a U.S. Joint Light Tactical Vehicle production contract award; the Company’s ability to increase prices to raise margins or offset higher input costs; increasing commodity and other raw material costs, particularly in a sustained economic recovery; risks related to facilities consolidation and alignment, including the amounts of related costs and charges and that anticipated cost savings may not be achieved; the duration of the ongoing global economic uncertainty, which could lead to additional impairment charges related to many of the Company’s intangible assets and/or a slower recovery in the Company’s cyclical businesses than Company or equity market expectations; risks related to the collectability of receivables, particularly for those businesses with exposure to construction markets; the cost of any warranty campaigns related to the Company’s products; risks related to production or shipment delays arising from quality or production issues; risks associated with international operations and sales, including foreign currency fluctuations and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the Company’s ability to comply with complex laws and regulations applicable to U.S. government contractors; the impact of severe weather or natural disasters that may affect either the Company, the Company’s suppliers or its customers; the impact of cyber security risk and costs of defending against, mitigating and responding to a data security breach; and risks related to the Company’s ability to successfully execute on its strategic road map and meet its long-term financial goals. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update information contained in this press release. Investors should be aware that the Company may not update such information until the Company’s next quarterly earnings conference call, if at all.

Contacts

Oshkosh Defense
Scott Grall, 920-235-9151 Ext. 22354
Sr. Manager, Global Marketing Communications
sgrall@defense.oshkoshcorp.com

Contacts

Oshkosh Defense
Scott Grall, 920-235-9151 Ext. 22354
Sr. Manager, Global Marketing Communications
sgrall@defense.oshkoshcorp.com