The Block 1 version has a lighter frame, infrared driving lights, a smaller and more efficient sensor package, and insulated exhaust and hydraulics that make them quieter in the field.
One time, soldiers overloaded one vehicle up with filled sandbags, which were estimated to weigh 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) (exceeding Lockheed’s recommended carrying weight of 1,200 pounds), and successfully drove it up a 30-degree slope.
From fielding experiences, Lockheed planned improvements to the system, considering adding another alternator to increase its power output since one group of soldiers in Afghanistan had been trying to use it as a mobile operations center by loading it up with generators and batteries while out on missions.
The demonstration proved that the combination of autonomy, vehicle mobility, surveillance sensors, and satellite communications can provide a means of battlefield situational awareness without human intervention.
It involved the SMSS and an unmanned K-MAX helicopter, both Lockheed Martin systems, operating in a simulated area deemed too risky for human presence.
The K-MAX autonomously transported the SMSS by sling load into the area and set it down over an intended point, releasing it upon command from a remote operator.
The exercise was intended to demonstrate that large UAVs and UGVs could operate alongside each other by themselves and beyond line-of-sight to perform missions to keep personnel out of harm's way.