Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics stated Tuesday that it received a two-year, $49.9 million contract from the U.S. Division of Protection to assist develop automated fight automobiles for the U.S. Military.

The corporate stated the automobiles will probably be tailor-made for reconnaissance, surveillance and different missions that might current a excessive threat to a human driver.

The contract was awarded by the DoD’s Protection Innovation Unit (DIU) and is a part of the Military’s ongoing Robotic Fight Automobile (RCV) program.

“We’re proud to have the chance to leverage our cutting-edge self-driving know-how for protection functions, and consider our work with DIU and the U.S. Military will each assist strengthen nationwide safety and hasten our path to industrial deployment,” Kodiak CEO Don Burnette stated in an announcement.

DIU stated it obtained 33 responses to its preliminary solicitation in October, and chosen Kodiak and one other vendor, growth software program supplier Utilized Instinct, after an intensive overview course of. Kodiak has been testing its autonomous vans in Texas since 2019, and counts logistics giants Werner Enterprises and U.S. Xpress and Swedish home-goods large IKEA amongst its pilot prospects.

“The industrial sector has invested closely on this know-how, and we’re excited to see this in motion by leveraging the self-driving know-how that’s engaged on American highways right now,” stated Lieutenant Colonel Chris Orlowski, a product supervisor with the RCV program.

The award marks the newest growth within the DoD’s Protection Superior Analysis Tasks Company (DARPA) Grand Problem self-driving competitions, which started in 2004.

“There was a revolution within the strategies and capabilities of uncrewed floor automobiles occurring within the non-public sector over the previous 20 years,” stated Kevin O’Brien, technical director for DIU’s Autonomy Portfolio.