Milrem hails conclusion of EU robotics program amid security review

MILAN — A prominent European robotics program came to a close last month, with lead contractor Milrem Robotics celebrating the results while awaiting the verdict of a European Union security review over its new owners in the United Arab Emirates.

The Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) program, led by the Estonian company along with a dozen consortium members from across the EU, completed all contractual activities and reached its objectives in May 2023, Milrem said in a statement.

“During iMUGS the consortium demonstrated that unmanned systems play a crucial role in military environments and scenarios, paving the way for wider adoption and use of these systems in the near future,” said Milrem CEO Kuldar Väärsi.

The project, whose goal was to deliver a standard architecture for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to the European Commission, lasted 30 months . On April 26, the sixth and final iMUGS demonstration was held at the San Juan del Viso military grounds in Madrid, Spain.

At the closing event, two modified THeMIS vehicles, Milrem’s reference platform for the program, were used to showcase their capabilities at the individual level, without operator involvement, and in swarming operations.

The culmination of the project takes place against the backdrop of a pending security review by the European Commission. The probe evaluates Milrem’s claims that its recent takeover by EDGE Group won’t harm EU security interests in the context of defense-cooperation projects like iMUGS and possible follow-on endeavors.

The assessment, which began in March, is still “in progress and ongoing, with no announcement at this stage,” an EU official told Defense News this week.

Few details have been released regarding an envisaged second phase of the iMUGS project. Thus far, all new information has regarded its peer initiative, the Integrated Unmanned Ground Systems 2 (IUGS2). That project which is part of the bloc’s PESCO cooperation scheme, which is, at least in theory, about governments teaming up on capability improvements as opposed to contractors taking the lead.

Led by Milrem’s home government Estonia, it involves nine EU countries, and its objective is to produce a UGV capable of manned-unmanned and unmanned-unmanned teaming with other autonomous robotic platforms as well as manned main battle tanks.

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——上个月，一项重要的欧洲机器人项目落下帷幕，主要承包商 Milrem Robotics 在庆祝项目成果的同时，也在等待欧盟对其位于阿拉伯联合酋长国的新所有者进行安全审查的裁决。

Milrem在一份声明中表示，由爱沙尼亚公司牵头，联合欧盟十几个成员组成的联盟开展的模块化无人地面系统（iMUGS）项目已于2023年5月完成所有合同活动并达到其目标。

“在 iMUGS 期间，该联盟证明了无人系统在军事环境和场景中发挥着至关重要的作用，为这些系统在不久的将来得到更广泛的采用和使用铺平了道路，”Milrem 首席执行官 Kuldar Väärsi 表示。

该项目旨在为欧盟委员会提供无人地面车辆（UGV）的标准架构，历时30个月。4月26日，第六次也是最后一次iMUGS演示在西班牙马德里的圣胡安德尔维索军事基地举行。

在闭幕式上，两辆经过改装的 THeMIS 车辆（Milrem 为该项目提供的参考平台）被用来展示其在单车层面（无需操作员参与）和集群作战中的能力。

该项目的最终阶段正值欧盟委员会即将对其进行安全审查之际。此次审查旨在评估米尔雷姆公司（Milrem）的说法，即其近期被EDGE集团收购不会损害欧盟在iMUGS等防务合作项目及后续可能合作项目中的安全利益。

一位欧盟官员本周告诉《防务新闻》，这项始于3月份的评估目前仍在进行中，现阶段不会发布任何公告。

关于iMUGS项目第二阶段的设想，目前公布的细节很少。迄今为止，所有新信息都集中在与其类似的计划——集成无人地面系统2（IUGS2）项目上。IUGS2项目是欧盟永久性结构化合作（PESCO）机制的一部分，该机制至少在理论上是指各国政府携手提升能力，而不是由承包商主导。

该项目由米尔雷姆的母国爱沙尼亚政府牵头，涉及九个欧盟国家，其目标是生产一种能够与其他自主机器人平台以及有人驾驶主战坦克进行有人-无人和无人-无人协同作战的无人地面车辆。

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。