US Army Tests Autonomous Volcano Mine Dispenser System at Camp Grayling
The U.S. Army successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system at Camp Grayling, Michigan, in May 2026. The system, pairing a legacy M139 dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, can blanket 32 acres with up to 960 mines. Soldiers remotely fired inert canisters and later had the system autonomously emplace minefields. Developed jointly with the UK and contractor Forterra, it automatically logs mine locations to the Army’s battlefield map. Further testing is planned for July 2026.
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US Army tests autonomous mass mine-laying system
The U.S. Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system, which can blanket approximately 32 acres with up to 960 mines. During demonstrations at Camp Grayling, Michigan in May, soldiers remotely fired the Autonomous Volcano for the first time and later had it lay two separate minefields without human assistance. The system pairs the decades-old M139 Volcano dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, designed to keep combat engineers out of danger. It also automatically logs mine locations and uploads them to the Army's shared battlefield map. The project was developed jointly by the U.S. and United Kingdom, with defense contractor Forterra integrating the dispenser onto the autonomous vehicle. The Army plans to test the system in a series of realistic battlefield scenarios later this month as part of broader efforts to modernize legacy equipment with emerging technology.
Defense NewsUS Army tests autonomous mass minelaying with Volcano system
The US Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser, capable of blanketing 32 acres with up to 960 mines without a human driver. During demonstrations at Camp Grayling, Michigan in May, soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters from the system, which then autonomously emplaced two separate minefields. The system pairs the legacy M139 Volcano dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, automatically logging mine locations and uploading them to the Army's shared battlefield map. Developed jointly by the US and UK with contractor Forterra integrating the dispenser onto the autonomous vehicle, the project aims to keep combat engineers out of danger while providing asymmetric overmatch. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026.
Defense NewsUS Army tests autonomous mass mine-laying system
The US Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system at Camp Grayling, Michigan. The system, which can blanket 32 acres with up to 960 mines, was mounted on a driverless Palletized Load System truck. Soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters in the first live-fire scenario, and the system later autonomously emplaced two minefields without human assistance. The Autonomous Volcano automatically logs mine locations and uploads them to the Army's shared battlefield map. The project was developed jointly by the US and UK, with defense contractor Forterra integrating the dispenser onto the autonomous vehicle. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026. This test is part of broader Army efforts to modernize legacy equipment with autonomous technology, including drones for breaching obstacles and autonomous vehicles for resupply.
Military TimesUS Army tests autonomous mass mine-laying system
The US Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system at Camp Grayling, Michigan. The Autonomous Volcano pairs the legacy M139 dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, capable of blanketing 32 acres with up to 960 mines without human assistance. Soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters in the first live-fire scenario, then the system autonomously emplaced two minefields. The system automatically logs mine locations and uploads them to the Army's shared battlefield map. Developed jointly by the US and UK with contractor Forterra, the project aims to keep combat engineers out of danger while providing area-denial capability. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026.
Army TimesUS Army tests autonomous mass minelaying with Volcano system
The U.S. Army successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system during May demonstrations at Camp Grayling, Michigan. The system, which pairs the legacy M139 Volcano dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, can blanket approximately 32 acres with up to 960 mines. Soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters in the first live-fire scenario, and the system later autonomously emplaced two separate minefields without human assistance. The autonomous variant automatically logs mine locations and uploads them to the Army's shared battlefield map. The project was developed jointly by the U.S. and United Kingdom, with contractor Forterra integrating the dispenser onto the autonomous vehicle. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026. This represents the Army's broader effort to modernize legacy equipment with autonomous technology to keep combat engineers out of danger.
Military TimesUS Army tests autonomous mass minelaying with Volcano system
The U.S. Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system at Camp Grayling, Michigan. The system, which pairs the legacy M139 Volcano dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, can blanket approximately 32 acres with up to 960 mines. During May demonstrations, soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters and later had the system autonomously emplace two separate minefields without human assistance. The autonomous variant automatically logs minefield locations and uploads them to the Army's shared battlefield map. The project was developed jointly by the U.S. and United Kingdom, with defense contractor Forterra integrating the dispenser onto the autonomous vehicle. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026. This represents the Army's broader effort to modernize legacy equipment with emerging technology to keep combat engineers out of danger.
Army TimesUS Army tests autonomous mass minelaying with Volcano dispenser
The US Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser, capable of blanketing 32 acres with up to 960 mines without a human driver. During May demonstrations at Camp Grayling, Michigan, soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters and later had the system autonomously emplace two separate minefields. The upgrade pairs the decades-old M139 Volcano dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, developed jointly by the US and UK with contractor Forterra. The system automatically logs minefield locations and uploads them to the Army's common operating picture. Col. Vinson Morris called it a low-cost modernization providing asymmetric overmatch and closing a critical area-denial gap. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026.
Defense NewsUS Army tests autonomous mass minelaying with Volcano system
The U.S. Army has successfully tested an autonomous version of its Volcano mine dispenser system at Camp Grayling, Michigan. The system, which pairs the legacy M139 Volcano dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck, can blanket approximately 32 acres with up to 960 mines. During the May demonstrations, soldiers from the 4th Engineering Battalion remotely fired inert mine canisters, and the system later autonomously emplaced two separate minefields without human assistance. The autonomous variant automatically logs minefield locations and uploads them to the Army's shared battlefield map. The project was developed jointly by the U.S. and United Kingdom, with defense contractor Forterra integrating the dispenser onto the autonomous vehicle. The Army plans further testing in realistic battlefield scenarios later in July 2026. This effort is part of broader Army modernization to keep combat engineers out of danger by using unmanned systems for obstacle emplacement and other hazardous tasks.
Army Times