The Spanish defense ministry has taken delivery of the first THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) from Estonian autonomous systems developer Milrem Robotics.
The defense ministry ordered the vehicle for the Spanish Army through the Directorate of Armament and Material from A.Paukner, S.A., Milrem Robotics’ representative in Spain.
THeMIS was acquired in the framework of the Scorpion program that was launched in early 2021 to evaluate the capabilities of existing unmanned ground vehicles. During the first phase of the program, a list of missions will be defined that can benefit from the usage of unmanned ground systems.
“The THeMIS has already proven itself to 12 countries, seven of which are members of NATO, as a capable, robust and versatile system. We are glad that Spain has joined as the 13th user of THEMIS and chosen Milrem Robotics as a partner to build their robotic and autonomous systems capabilities,” said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.
The THeMIS UGV is intended to support dismounted troops that can serve as a mule for transporting a squad’s gear or be rapidly converted into a weaponized remotely operated unit to offer force protection.
According to Milrem, it is the first system in its size class deployed to a conflict area during the anti-insurgency operation Barkhane in Mali. During the deployment, the THeMIS traversed 1200 km in one of the world’s harshest terrains of lava rock soil and climates climbing to 50 degrees Celsius in the shade. The UGV was operational for over 330 hours.
In addition to THeMIS, the company has also developed the medium class Type-X robotic combat vehicle (RCV) and is currently leading a European defense industrial development program (EDIDP) project to develop a standardized European unmanned ground system. The project will undertake to standardize a European wide ecosystem for aerial and ground platforms, command, control and communication equipment, sensors, payloads, and algorithms.
