PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii —Robot boats. Counter-drone systems. A prototype Army landing craft. A million dollars in cash prizes. It’s all part of the Army’s effort to overcome logistics challenges in the Indo-Pacific and get new technology in the hands of soldiers more quickly.

Experimentation for the Army’s xTech contest started Sept. 9 with sunshirt-clad representatives from HavocAI wheeling small gray autonomous boats down a concrete ramp on Ford Island into the cerulean waters of Pearl Harbor. Soon, the boats were zipping through the harbor, protecting a Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) from an unnamed adversary. A total of 10 companies tested their tech as part of the contest.

On Thursday, three winners will take home $35,000 cash prizes, along with feedback from soldiers and technical

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