63 to make sure customers can identify landmines, for example, and set up operations for removing them,” says Sverker Svardby, industrial partnership director at Milrem. Further EOD payloads available for the 1630 kg hybrid-electric THeMIS are the Raytheon GroundEye sensing system for detecting, confirming and diagnosing explosive devices, and the Rocus (Route Clearance Unmanned System) from CNIM Systemes Industriels, which integrates a sweeper and a robotic arm capable of lifting 100 kg and with a reach of more than 4 m. Also, Milrem’s Type-X robotic combat vehicle (RCV) is now productionready, although as with the THeMIS the company continues to customise versions of the system for evolving defence customer requirements such as affordability and different terrain types. The Type-X resembles a crewed infantry fighting vehicle, and is intended to function as a wingman or similar support RCV to main battle tanks and other mechanised units. It weighs 12,000 kg, measures 600 x 290 x 220 cm and runs on a hybrid diesel-electric drive, like the THeMIS, giving it a top speed of 80 kph on roads and 50 kph off-road. It is certified to Stanag 4569 L4 for kinetic energy impacts (non-explosive projectile weapons such as bullets or mass drivers) and artillery protection, as well as Stanag L1 for mine protection. It can also be fitted with Kongsberg’s Protector weapons station as well as a multi-canister launcher for ordnance such as UVision’s Hero-120 and Hero400EC loitering munitions systems. “For customers seeking a lowercost autonomous ground solution, we are continuing to develop our Milrem Intelligent Function Integration Kit [MIFIK],” Svardby adds. “This is an integrated kit with sensors for a vehicle to perceive its surroundings, and a computer running our algorithms to digest that perception data and process it into driving directions, movements and obstacle detection and avoidance.” The MIFIK can be configured with location or event-based autonomous behaviours, including patrol loops, backtracking, return-home triggers and switching among multiple waypoints, routes and missions. Ground medevac and logistics As with many commercial entities, defence organisations have widereaching logistics requirements, and the closer these requirements are to areas of conflict, the more hazardous and urgent they become. The development of autonomous ‘mules’ for carrying equipment, frontline resupply and even uncrewed medevac tasks is hence something a few defence technology firms have attempted over the past decade. Among such systems is the family of Mission Master vehicles from Rheinmetall, which have been trialled successfully in Australia during its summer, and Estonia and within the Arctic Circle during winter. “We have three versions of the Mission Master UGV: the SP, the CXT and the XT,” explains Eric Diniz, project and system engineer at Rheinmetall. “The SP is a fully electric vehicle and can carry up to 600 kg of payload. The XT is the largest in the family; it can carry up to 1000 kg of payloads, runs on diesel and has a hydrostatic transmission. “The CXT stands for ‘compact XT’, as its size is between the SP and XT. It has a hybrid drivetrain, with batteries and electric motors, and an engine that can recharge the batteries while running on diesel or JP-8, and it can carry a tonne of payload weight.” The SP can operate for up to 8 hours at an average speed of 10 kph (its top speed being 30 kph), or for up to a week if sitting still and operating as a surveillance system. Defence systems | Insight The SP is all-electric and can carry up to 600 kg, the XT can carry up to 1000 kg and runs on diesel, while the CXT is a hybrid and can also carry up to 1000 kg Uncrewed Systems Technology | December/January 2024 Rheinmetall’s Mission Master UGVs can function as autonomous mules, battlefield ambulances or frontline logistics runners (Courtesy of Rheinmetall)
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