By Colton Jones

Copyright defence-blog

AM General, the maker of the legendary Humvee, says it will spotlight the agility and lethality of its light-force portfolio at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting, Oct. 13–15, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The company plans to show the restyled Hawkeye 105mm Mobile Howitzer System, the new and recently delivered JLTV A2 with an enhanced trailer, and a purpose-built special operations pickup called MIMIC-V. As noted by the company, the MIMIC-V (Mission Integrated Maneuverable Interoperable Conformable Vehicle) is itself the pickup platform—built from the frame up for special operations—and configured as a mobile drone operations hub. Company materials say the vehicle integrates a UAS system and high-caliber weapons for special forces operations, enabling rapid deployment, launch, and recovery of unmanned aircraft from the truck. According to AM General, the AUSA display pairs the pickup with two complementary drone packages. First, the truck is outfitted to work with XTEND Defense’s human-guided autonomous drone systems, allowing small units to launch, monitor, and recover drones without leaving the vehicle. Second, for the show the company collaborated with SPEAR UAV to integrate the Viper 300 system for precision strikes and beyond line-of-sight engagements. The intent, the company says, is to give ground teams a single, mobile node that can support reconnaissance, target designation, and strike tasks while on the move. The pickup also features a sensor upgrade aimed at improving awareness in tough environments. AM General says the MIMIC-V is upfitted with TriEye’s CMOS-based Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) technology, a package designed to preserve imaging performance in dust, smoke, haze, and low light. In the company’s words, “The TriEye integration offers unprecedented situational awareness, potentially giving troops a critical advantage across the entire spectrum of military operations.” AM General adds that the end-to-end concept is meant to serve units that need a small footprint and fast reaction times. As the company puts it, “These new capabilities deliver unmatched operational flexibility and agility for special operations and light infantry units operating in complex environments.”