THE FUTURE BELONGS TO ROBOTIC SYSTEMS GERT D. HANKEWITZ
Export Director, Milrem Robotics
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espite the difficult global situation, Milrem Robotics managed to launch a new generation of robotic combat machines, win a project to develop the European standard unmanned ground vehicle and expand the use of its flagship – THeMIS UGV – to new markets, including finally Estonia. All that in 2020. In September, the Centre for Defense Investment signed an agreement to jointly procure seven THeMIS UGVs together with the Netherlands. Three of the seven vehicles will start service in the Estonian Defense Forces and four in the 13th Brigade, Royal Netherlands Army. According to the agreement, Milrem Robotics is the systems integrator who, in addition to delivering the vehicles, also takes care of the installation of all third-party equipment, including the weapon systems onto the vehicles. Weapon systems integrated onto the vehicles procured by the Netherlands are, of course, under human control. The 13th Brigade is already familiar with the THeMIS since April 2019, when its robotics and autonomous systems unit commissioned the first