American Rheinmetall shows next-gen squad systems at Modern Day Marine

American Rheinmetall brought a full slate of unmanned systems and next-generation squad weapon systems to Modern Day Marine.

The centerpiece of the display is Rheinmetall’s Mission Master Silent Partner Hotel, designated MMSP-H, a fully autonomous ground vehicle that operates on land and water. The platform carries 2,200 pounds of payload on land and 880 pounds afloat, making it one of the more capable amphibious unmanned ground vehicles currently available to U.S. forces. It holds NAVAIR certification, can accept sling load operations, and is parachute drop capable — a combination of qualifications that gives the platform genuine operational flexibility across the range of environments Marines actually work in. It is manufactured in the United States.

The NAVAIR certification is not a minor credential. It means the MMSP-H has cleared the Naval Air Systems Command’s airworthiness and safety standards for aviation-related operations — a requirement that applies when a vehicle will be externally transported by helicopter or delivered by parachute into an operational area. For a ground vehicle to hold that certification signals that American Rheinmetall has done the engineering work to make the platform compatible with the full spectrum of Marine Corps insertion and logistics methods, not just road-mobile convoy operations. A vehicle that can be dropped in from a CH-53K or slung beneath a helicopter and then operate autonomously on arrival covers a lot of the Marine Corps’ expeditionary problem set in a single platform.

The second system on display, the Wild Goose, comes from Marom Dolphin Ltd. and represents a different point on the unmanned logistics spectrum — smaller, attritable, and already fully fielded at Technology Readiness Level 9, the highest rating on the scale, meaning it is a mature system proven in operational environments rather than a prototype still working through development. The Wild Goose carries 330 pounds of payload to a range of 25 kilometers, fits inside or on an Infantry Squad Vehicle, HMMWV, JLTV, or UH-60 Black Hawk, and is airborne door-bundle ready — meaning it can be pushed out the door of a helicopter in flight as part of a resupply drop without requiring a dedicated aircraft or specialized delivery infrastructure. That combination of compatibility and maturity matters enormously for units that need capability now, not after another development cycle.

Also on display at the booth, and drawing attention on the show floor, is the HAMMR — the Highly Advanced Multi-Mission Rifle. Rheinmetall’s display card describes the system as oriented toward precision soldier lethality and squad-level overmatch, positioning it alongside the unmanned platforms as part of a broader vision of enhanced ground combat capability at the small unit level.

The through-line connecting everything American Rheinmetall brought to Modern Day Marine is the squad and platoon. These are not theater-level systems or platform integrations requiring months of installation and training. They are systems sized, certified, and designed to operate at the level where individual Marines make contact with the enemy — where the margin between adequate capability and decisive advantage is measured in seconds and pounds of payload delivered to the right place at the right time.

Modern Day Marine, the annual exposition that brings defense industry to the doorstep of Marine Corps leadership and acquisition officials, is exactly the right venue for this kind of display. The Corps has been explicit about its intent to integrate unmanned systems more aggressively into ground operations, and the competition to fill that requirement is active. American Rheinmetall’s decision to show the MMSP-H, Wild Goose, and HAMMR together at a single booth reflects a deliberate effort to present not just individual products but a coherent vision of what an autonomous-enabled Marine squad looks like — resupply handled by unmanned ground and air platforms, lethality enhanced at the individual weapon level, human Marines freed from the most exposed and repetitive tasks to focus on the decisions that require judgment and initiative.

The amphibious qualification of the MMSP-H deserves particular attention in the Marine Corps context. The Corps operates across the littoral environment by definition — it crosses water, operates from ships, and assaults beaches. A logistics platform that loses its utility the moment it reaches the water’s edge is a platform with a significant operational gap. The MMSP-H’s ability to continue operating afloat, even at reduced payload, means it can follow Marines across the water obstacles that define so much of the Corps’ operational environment without requiring a hand-off to a different system or a gap in the supply chain.

The Wild Goose’s TRL 9 status is equally significant from a procurement standpoint. The Marine Corps has spent years navigating the gap between promising unmanned systems that perform well in demonstrations and systems that hold up under the sustained operational demands of actual fielding. A platform that arrives at Modern Day Marine already fully mature, already compatible with the vehicles and aircraft in Marine Corps inventory, and already proven in the field removes the most common source of acquisition risk from the equation. It is, in the language that matters to program managers, ready now.