Estonian manufacturer Milrem Robotics and the German defense company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) agreed to send 14 THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles to Ukraine in an effort funded by the German Defense Ministry. Seven are designed for evacuating casualties and will be delivered by the end of 2022, according to Milrem Robotics. The other seven, configurated for route clearance, will arrive in Ukraine next year.
“The deployment of the THeMIS UGV to Ukraine means that the Ukrainian forces can increase the safety of their soldiers and let the UGVs handle tasks that are an immediate threat to humans,” said Kuldar Vaarsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.
Juri Pajuste, Defense R&D Director at the company, explained that “casualty evacuation and route clearance are two labor-intensive activities that require the engagement of several people who remain in constant threat of enemy fire.”
THeMIS is a multi-role unmanned ground vehicle, which can be quickly configured from a transport function to arming, munitions disposal, or supporting reconnaissance operations according to the nature of the mission.