US defense contractor Raytheon has partnered with Uptake, a developer of industrial-use artificial intelligence software, to bring predictive maintenance capabilities to US Marine Corps’ M88 armored recovery vehicles.
The new undertaking is aimed at bringing the technical ability for onboard recording, processing and transfer of large quantities of sensitive data over secure Wi-Fi, while Uptake brings a suite of advanced artificial intelligence software that offers actionable insights at the component level.
“Commanders should have data-driven confidence that the vehicles chosen for a critical operation are not trending toward an issue right when it matters the most,” said Matt Gilligan, vice president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business. “These kinds of decisions don’t just save dollars and ensure mission success– they save lives.”
Current maintenance and logistics decisions are event based or timeline driven, but militaries are increasingly using advanced data analytics and condition-based monitoring to identify problems and provide alerts before they happen.
“To shift from reactive to predictive maintenance requires advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies,” said Brad Kewell, Uptake’s Founder and CEO. “We want to radically improve mission readiness, success and safety for deployed Marines at the tactical edge.”
The M88A2 armored recovery vehicle is a towing vehicle used by the marines. The Hercules is built by the British company BAE Systems and has been in use in one form or another by the Army and Marine Corps since 1959.
Also referred to as Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift Evacuation System (Hercules), the vehicle is capable of towing 160,000 pounds, or 80 tons, and its boom and winch can lift 35 tons, or 70,000 pounds.
