The Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (ECDI) has signed a joint procurement agreement with Dutch authorities to procure seven THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) from Milrem Robotics.
Milrem Robotics, an Estonian developer of robotics and autonomous systems, will deliver four THeMIS UGVs acquired by the Royal Netherlands Army in the coming months. The Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) will receive its three vehicles this month.
According to the contract, Milrem Robotics is also the system integrator, which, in addition to the supplying the vehicles, will perform all integration of third-party technologies, including weapons systems, onto the delivered UGVs. Notably these unmanned weapons systems will remain under human control.
LtCol Martijn Hadicke, commander of the Royal Netherlands Army’s robot and autonomous systems (RAS) unit, said: “We are delighted to enhance our cooperation with Milrem Robotics by increasing our fleet to six THeMIS vehicles in joint efforts with the Estonian Ministry of Defence.
“So far, the THeMIS has successfully been used for research and experiments by operational units of the 13th Light Brigade in Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands and during a live fire exercise in Austria.
“The addition of four extra THeMIS vehicles with a remote controlled weapon system that is operated by a soldier provides us the opportunity to continue to develop concepts to enhance the combat power and decrease the risk for our soldiers.”
Milrem Robotics previously delivered two THeMIS UGVs to the RAS unit of the 13th Light Brigade of the Royal Netherlands Army in 2019. The EDF also used the THeMIS for 12 months in Mali during Operation Barkhane.
Milrem Robotics’ first product, the THeMIS UGV has been delivered to nine countries of which seven are NATO members, including to the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.
The company’s Intelligent Functions Integration Kit enables THeMIS autonomous functionalities such as waypoint navigation and follow-me. Milrem Robotics also performs system integration of capabilities such as sensors, software and sensor-based intelligent functions, and weapon systems.
