Finland seeks demining robots amid exploding focus on combat robotics

MILAN — The Finnish military has launched a tender to procure mixed-sized military robots that will help ground forces in disposing explosive threats, as more armed forces in Europe refine their combat robotics requirements.

The Nordic country is seeking two models of robots, a large and a smaller variant, that will equip the Finnish Defense Forces’ explosive ordnance and improvised explosive device teams.

“Robots will be used in all standard EOD/IEDD operations, mainly in Finnish terrain, but shall also be capable of operating in international crisis management missions around the world,” a notice published last month by the military’s Logistics Command said.

The initial planned purchase is for four platforms, including spare parts and training, but a follow-on order could entail a total of eight. The tender envisions vehicles that weigh less than 300 kilograms (662 lbs), move on tracks, can be operated wirelessly, and can be fitted with at least two disruptors, which are typically used for disabling explosive devices.

In addition, a human operator must be able to use the system’s remote control or interface to activate the disruptors. The estimated value of the purchases is 14,3 million euros (16,7 million USD).

Ukraine has been at the forefront of unmanned ground vehicle technologies over the last few years, contributing to fast-track interest in them. The country recently announced the creation of the world’s first UGV battalion.

The development of such platforms has previously been slower, as militaries were gradually fine-tuning their plans to field them as a complement – or outright replacement – of legacy systems.

In July 2023, only a few months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Estonian Defence Forces organized a demonstration for vendors to show off their vehicles’ abilities.

At the time, one of the event’s organizers told Defense News that for the systems to be deployed in operational scenarios like what was unfolding in Ukraine, they required much more robustness and testing.

Since then, UGV manufacturers have multiplied contracts both within and outside of Europe. The Estonian-based producer Milrem Robotics, which was acquired by the Emirati conglomerate Edge Group, has over a dozen of its THeMIS UGVs in various configurations to Ukraine and received orders from the Japanese and Emirati militaries last year.

In June, the Dutch Ministry of Defense signed a contract on behalf of the Ukraine Task Force with Rheinmetall Defense Nederland to supply 20 UGVs to the Ukrainian forces. France is currently testing the Aurochs 4x4 UGV as it plans to field combat-ready robotic capabilities by 2040. Similarly, last month, Italy hosted the first EU-wide OPEX operational experimentation, in partnership with the European Defense Agency, where six European defense companies demonstrated the capabilities of drones and robotic ground systems.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——芬兰军方已启动一项招标，采购各种尺寸的军用机器人，以帮助地面部队处置爆炸物威胁。与此同时，欧洲越来越多的武装部队正在完善其作战机器人需求。

这个北欧国家正在寻求两种型号的机器人，一种大型机器人和一种小型机器人，用于装备芬兰国防军的爆炸物处理和简易爆炸装置小组。

“机器人将用于所有标准的爆炸物处理/简易爆炸装置拆除行动，主要在芬兰境内，但也能够在世界各地的国际危机管理任务中发挥作用，”军方后勤司令部上个月发布的一份通知称。

最初计划采购四套平台，包括备件和培训，但后续订单可能涉及八套。招标文件中设想的车辆重量低于300公斤（662磅），履带式行驶，可无线操控，并至少配备两个干扰器，这些干扰器通常用于拆除爆炸装置。

此外，操作人员必须能够使用系统的遥控器或界面来启动干扰器。此次采购的预计价值为1430万欧元（1670万美元）。

过去几年，乌克兰一直处于无人地面车辆技术的前沿，这加速了人们对该技术的兴趣。该国最近宣布组建世界上第一个无人地面车辆营。

此前，此类平台的开发速度较慢，因为各国军队都在逐步完善其部署计划，以补充或彻底取代传统系统。

2023 年 7 月，就在俄罗斯对乌克兰发动全面入侵几个月后，爱沙尼亚国防军组织了一场演示活动，让供应商展示其车辆的性能。

当时，该活动的一位组织者告诉《防务新闻》，要将这些系统部署到像乌克兰正在发生的那种作战场景中，它们需要更强大的稳健性和更多的测试。

此后，无人地面车辆制造商在欧洲内外都获得了大量合同。总部位于爱沙尼亚的制造商Milrem Robotics已被阿联酋的Edge集团收购，该公司已向乌克兰交付了十几辆不同配置的THeMIS无人地面车辆，并于去年获得了来自日本和阿联酋军方的订单。

今年6月，荷兰国防部代表乌克兰特遣部队与莱茵金属防务荷兰公司签署合同，向乌克兰军队提供20辆无人地面车辆（UGV）。法国目前正在测试Aurochs 4x4无人地面车辆，计划在2040年前部署具备作战能力的机器人。同样，上个月，意大利与欧洲防务局合作，举办了欧盟范围内的首次作战试验（OPEX），六家欧洲防务公司在试验中展示了无人机和地面机器人系统的性能。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。