“The Army is moving with urgency to deliver adaptable, survivable, and scalable Fires capabilities to Soldiers,” Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano, Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) of Fires, said in a service release late Monday.
Georgia Tech Research Institute named lead weapons systems integrator
The Army awarded Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) up to $33.4 million to act as the lead weapons systems integrator for the Common Autonomous Multidomain Launcher (CAML) prototype program. The period of performance on the award is estimated at 36 months. As the integrator, GTRI will be responsible for support systems engineering, interface integration, modeling and simulation, and other integrated testing activities the Army specified in its release.
What CAML is intended to replace: Typhon and the MRC long-range launcher
The CAML program is positioned as a replacement for the Army’s Typhon — its Mid-Range Capability (MRC) long-range launcher — after the service concluded Typhon was too large to operate effectively on the battlefield. CAML is described in the release as an autonomous, optionally crewed, “highly mobile” cross-domain fires launcher that is designed to be air transportable.
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See what we buildModular acquisition and the “teams of teams” approach
Rather than buying a single, complete system from one vendor, the Army is executing a modular acquisition strategy. Under that approach, Georgia Tech will lead integration of two primary elements: the autonomous mobility platform and modular munitions pallets, which together make up the CAML system. The service said it will announce awards for those component vendors “in the coming months.”
Breaking Defense previously reported in January that the Army planned to change the procurement model by selecting a weapons systems integrator first and then awarding component contracts — a structure described by Alex Miller, the Army’s chief technology officer, as creating a “teams of teams approach.” Miller told Breaking Defense that the goal was to assemble specialists — an integrator, a munitions-pallet provider and an autonomous platform provider — so each partner “is doing the thing they’re really good at.”
Industry day on Sept. 2 to clarify multiple solicitations and confusion
The Army announced a planned industry day on Sept. 2 for the CAML program to better define how it intends to acquire the system. The notice, dated Aug. 27, said multiple solicitations had “caused confusion among industry partners” and that the Army “wishes to level-set expectations on these points and encourage continued industry participation in the program.”
Before the procurement approach changed, the Army had been open to selecting separate vendors for a medium CAML variant and a heavy variant, according to previous reporting. With the teams of teams approach, Miller acknowledged in January that executing such a split — and how it would be structured — remained unclear.
How the Army, component vendors, and soldiers are affected
- Army acquisition leadership: The award signals a deliberate pivot toward experimentation and modularity. The service has framed CAML as a pathway to “experiment with modular launcher concepts, learn quickly, and make informed decisions at the speed of relevance,” placing systems integration and iterative testing at the center of near-term acquisition activity.
- Component vendors and industry partners: Companies that would supply autonomous platforms or modular munitions pallets are in a holding pattern — awaiting component award announcements expected “in the coming months” and preparing for an industry day meant to resolve confusion created by multiple solicitations.
- Soldiers and operational users: The stated outcome is an air-transportable, highly mobile launcher that can operate autonomously or with a crew, providing adaptable, survivable and scalable fires capabilities once the prototype effort matures and component pieces are integrated and tested.
The Army’s decision to place an academic-affiliated research institute at the center of systems integration reflects an acquisition experiment as much as a procurement action. Georgia Tech Research Institute’s 36‑month role will be judged by its ability to stitch together autonomous mobility platforms and modular munitions pallets into a workable prototype — and by the Army’s ability to translate lessons from that prototype into downstream awards for component suppliers. The next concrete steps in that process are the upcoming industry day on Sept. 2 and the announcement of component awards in the months that follow; until then, the practical mechanics of the teams-of-teams model — and how it will accommodate variant options the Army previously considered — remain to be demonstrated.
