The THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles from Estonian manufacturer Milrem Robotics have delivered “the most important benefit” of avoiding casualties in the Ukrainian armed forces, according to Juri Pajuste, in charge of the company’s Ukrainian program. The ground-based armed drone is used for anti-tank mine clearing and unexploded ordnance removal, as well as transporting equipment to areas inaccessible or unsafe to conventional vehicles.
Half of Ukraine’s 14 Milrem vehicles are dedicated to cargo delivery and casualty evacuation, and the other half for demining and route-clearing operations using equipment from French company CNIM.
Pajuste noted that casualty evacuation and route-clearing are labor-intensive and risky activities for the assigned personnel. With the UGVs, they can perform their tasks from a safe distance, he said.
Milrem Robotics is evaluating the UGVs’ performance under a strategic cooperation agreement it signed with the Ukrainian Defense Industry during the First International Forum of Defense Industries held in Kyiv in September.
The agreement calls for identifying Ukraine’s robotic system requirements for its war against Russia and integrating Ukrainian battlefield experience into Milrem UGVs to develop new products to boost Ukraine’s manned and unmanned multi-domain strengths.