UGV Defense System Based on a Ford F-250 with a Shotgun Turret: USA Tests Platform to Counter UAVs

The United States is testing an UGV defense system based on a Ford F-250 pickup truck equipped with a turret featuring an automatic shotgun to counter UAVs.

DVIDS reported on this.

The vehicle is based on the Forterra AutoDrive autonomous driving platform and is equipped with a 9 Mothers Edda turret featuring an automatic shotgun designed to counter UAVs.

Testing and firing exercises with the UGV system took place as part of a larger U.S. project—Project Sandhills 2.0, which involves testing unmanned systems for engineering purposes.

Forterra, which supplies the U.S. Army with integrated autonomous combat systems based on Ford F-250 trucks, announced on July 31 that it was participating in the project.

The Edda module weighs about 23 kg and detects drones acoustically, rather than relying on radar or radio-frequency sensors.

The system remains passive until it fires and does not emit a signal the enemy could use to detect it first.

The turret can engage drones about 7 inches in diameter at ranges from 10 to 100 m.

The U.S. Army notes that this system will support engineering teams clearing minefields, barbed wire, and other obstacles.

As part of the first Sandhills exercise in 2024, an experiment was conducted to test the use of robotic, autonomous systems for breaching obstacles during large-scale combat operations.