Why GM is developing technology for self-driving vehicles for the US military

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/12/22/gm-military-vehicles-self-driving-cars/ [login to see] /
Since 2006, improvised explosive devices have killed more than 1,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as small groups of U.S. soldiers routinely travel in convoys on bomb-ridden roads, according to Congressional Research Service data.

But General Motors is developing commercial vehicle technology that could dramatically lower the casualty count from IEDs.

In fact, GM is gambling that it has a lot of technology that the military will want to buy.

For example, "GM has demonstrated leader-follower capability," GM Defense President David Albritton told the Free Press.

Leader-follower means a manned vehicle leads a dozen unmanned vehicles using GM's self-driving vehicle technology. By removing soldiers from those dozen trailing vehicles, human safety rises dramatically, said Albritton.

"GM can do that," said Albritton. "We have yet to flesh that out, but it’s an opportunity.”