THE FUTURE IS UNMANNED: MILREM ROBOTICS LEADS THE WAY
THE FUTURE IS UNMANNED
MILREM ROBOTICS LEADS THE WAY
MILREM ROBOTICS
PROJECT DIRECTED BY:
MARK CAWSTON
ONE SHOT, ONE KILL
World-leading remote weapon system with proven and reliable wireless control
High probability kill for less number of rounds
Superior accuracy, achieves longer range engagements
Integrates seamlessly with centralised systems or functions as a standalone unit
Requires minimal training, easy to use
Few defence firms have moved as decisively into robotics and autonomy as Milrem Robotics, a company that is proving its ideas on live battlefields while scaling globally. With operations now spanning six countries, a maturing product portfolio, and a growing reputation for delivering battle-proven autonomy, the Estonian-based company has emerged as a genuine frontrunner in the global race to integrate robotics and unmanned systems into land warfare.
Milrem Robotics is advancing its strategy by strengthening industrial partnerships that bring together innovation and operational know-how. Supporting this initiative is Director of Industrial Partnerships Paul Clayton. A retired British Army colonel, Clayton brings to his role more than three decades of operational experience across Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and South Sudan. He has commanded at battle group and Taskforce level, including time leading UK forces in Estonia, and has seen first-hand the challenges of armoured manoeuvre, multinational operations and high-intensity conflict. That background, he explains, allows him to evaluate Milrem’s platforms through the eyes of a user: “It lets me put our products into context, where unmanned systems can genuinely make a difference, where they can reduce risk to life, and where they can deliver more capability for less cost.”
His perspective is steeped in the realities of modern combat. Having worked with Warrior and Challenger tanks as an armoured battlegroup commander, and having experienced NATO integration in Eastern Europe, Clayton understands where manned–unmanned teaming could transform operations. He believes that robotic systems will increasingly take on the most dangerous roles, absorbing risk and allowing commanders greater flexibility in how they fight.
Milrem’s product portfolio reflects this philosophy. At its core is THeMIS, a 1.5-tonne tracked unmanned ground vehicle already in service with multiple customers. Compact, versatile, cost-
effective and low to the ground, THeMIS can be configured for logistics, fire support, engineering, counter-drone and casualty evacuation. It has proven itself in operational environments, demonstrating that unmanned systems are no longer a theoretical future but a practical present.
The company is now scaling up into heavier systems. HAVOC, an 8x8 unveiled at IDEX in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, weighs around 20 tonnes, including five tonnes of payload. Designed for rapid mobility, HAVOC can operate alongside armoured fleets such as Boxer, carrying a range of mission modules from heavy weapons to engineering kits. VECTOR, its tracked counterpart, is optimised for challenging terrain and high-risk assault roles, such as breaching obstacles or seizing objectives under fire. Between them, HAVOC and VECTOR provide armies with a blend of mobility and survivability, filling gaps left by the retirement of infantry fighting vehicles and complementing main battle tanks.
Clayton is forthright about their relevance: “With Challenger 3 as a heavy tracked tank and Boxer as a wheeled personnel carrier, the British Army is losing some
of the infantry fighting capability that once existed with Warrior. VECTOR, with a 30mm cannon, can operate as a wingman to Challenger, protecting it against anti-tank teams, while HAVOC provides mechanised support in depth. These vehicles offer the blend of tracked and wheeled options that modern armies need.”
Supporting these platforms are enabling technologies that transform them from vehicles into autonomous systems. MIFIK, Milrem’s autonomy package, provides navigation, obstacle avoidance, convoy operations and AI-enhanced mobility. ARCOS, its command-and-control suite, enables commanders to direct fleets of Milrem’s unmanned systems and integrate them into broader battlefield networks. Together, these systems will allow uncrewed assets to function as part of a larger force, networked with aerial and ground assets in real time.
Milrem’s success is built not only on technology but on partnerships, an area that falls directly under Clayton’s remit. As Director of Industrial Partnerships, his focus is on building the ecosystems that make Milrem’s platforms viable. The company provides the base vehicles and autonomy, but has established collaborations with renowed weapons manufacturers, radar specialists and technology innovators for payloads and mission modules. Strategic partnerships with firms such as Thales, Hanwha Aerospace, EOS and EM&E Group allow Milrem to combine its engineering expertise with specialised subsystems, while local partnerships in markets such as the Middle East and Asia provide entry points into competitive regions. “We’re agnostic when it comes to payloads,” Clayton says. “Our goal is to keep our vehicles versatile, plug-and-play. Customers often want to bring in their own national partners, and we provide the flexibility to make that happen.”
This model is proving effective. In the Middle East, co-owner EDGE Group has opened doors across MENA and South America. In Ukraine, Milrem has integrated
DEFENSE MILREM ROBOTICS
systems developed by local innovators, such as counter-FPV drone solutions, directly onto its vehicles. By combining global reach with local adaptation, Milrem delivers systems that are technologically advanced but also politically and operationally relevant.
Combat validation in Ukraine has been particularly important. Milrem’s THeMIS vehicles are already deployed for route clearance, logistics and casualty evacuation, and the company is expanding its fleet to become the largest non-Ukrainian provider of UGVs in the conflict. The lessons are immediate and practical: how to design user interfaces that soldiers can operate under stress; how to harden control systems against electronic attack; how to ensure survivability against precision strikes.
“Ukraine is teaching us every day,” Clayton notes. “It’s showing us how to build systems that work not just in trials but in combat.”
This feedback loop is central to Milrem’s innovation cycle. Instead of 18-month redesign processes, the company is working with Ukrainian partners to implement changes in weeks, mirroring the agility of startups coding in trenches to counter drone threats. That urgency is being fed back into the design of heavier platforms like HAVOC and VECTOR, ensuring that even as they are developed for NATO armies, they reflect battlefield realities.
Industrial growth has underpinned this agility. Milrem’s new facility in Tallinn has increased production capacity fivefold through lean processes and modular assembly. This allows the company to scale to meet demand while focusing R&D resources on next-generation systems. Expansion into Finland strengthens its presence in the Nordic region and supports localisation strategies, aligning Milrem with the industrial and defence priorities of different nations. With offices in six countries, the company now combines global reach with local adaptability.
Adapting to each market requires flexibility. Many nations want local production, industrial partnerships and procurement models tailored to their processes. Milrem addresses this with advisory services that cover training, doctrine integration and experimentation, delivered by a team of around 20 experts, many of them exmilitary. This allows the company to act not only as a supplier but as a systems integrator, helping customers bring unmanned capability into service in a way that fits their culture and force structure.
The UK is a particularly promising market. Clayton’s insight into British doctrine enables Milrem to align with the Chief of the General Staff’s call to double lethality by 2027 and triple it by 2030, and to deliver the 20-40-40 force structure of heavy crewed systems, reusable unmanned
systems and consumable unmanned systems. “Our platforms fit squarely into that vision,” Clayton says. “They allow the Army to increase lethality while reducing risk to life. At DSEI, we’ll be unveiling a new product developed with UK partners that shows exactly how we can integrate with national defence priorities.”
The broader implication is that unmanned systems are not an adjunct to existing structures but part of a revolution in military affairs. Clayton argues that robotics and autonomy are transforming warfare as profoundly as the introduction of firearms or modern communications once did. He foresees company-sized groupings of unmanned vehicles conducting autonomous missions such as flank protection, air defence or logistics support, while human commanders focus on
planning and execution. “We’re entering a new way of operating,” he says. “Autonomy will change how armies manoeuvre and defend.”
This vision is backed by momentum. At DSEI, Milrem will showcase vehicles not only on its own stand but on those of partners eager to demonstrate their payloads integrated with Milrem platforms. From minefield breaching kits to counterdrone systems, the demand from industry to be part of the unmanned future is evident.
Milrem Robotics has grown from startup to scale-up in just over a decade, becoming one of the most experienced UGV providers in the world. It is expanding industrial capacity, forging partnerships, and aligning with the defence priorities of
nations across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. Above all, it is demonstrating that autonomy is not a speculative promise but a present reality, reshaping how armies fight and how soldiers survive.
For Clayton, the excitement lies not only in the technology but in the people and partnerships driving it forward. “There’s a mindset across the company to evolve rapidly, integrate feedback and stay at the forefront,” he says. “It feels like being part of something transformational.”
As Milrem Robotics looks to the future, it is positioning itself not just as a supplier of vehicles, but as a systems integrator, an innovation partner and a trusted guide through the robotics revolution now sweeping modern warfare.
www.milremrobotics.com