Army selects four companies for new autonomous breaching program

The U.S. Army has selected four companies—Caterpillar, Forterra, IDV USA, and Overland AI—to participate in its Engineer Autonomous Breaching Capability (EABC) program. The program aims to find unmanned systems that can rapidly breach obstacles and minefields on future battlefields, minimizing personnel exposure and ensuring the safe passage of follow-on forces. The awards from the service are of an undisclosed amount and are expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. Once contracts are awarded, the selected vendors will participate in a series of demos and tests, culminating in a Transformation in Contact unit assessment early next year. This assessment will allow the Army to collect direct, unit-level feedback to inform a production decision for the next generation of autonomous engineer systems. The EABC program is part of a broader Army effort to prioritize autonomy in three areas: engineering (breaching), sustainment, and fires.