The future of the battlefield may lie with this particular badass military ground vehicle. The Milrem Robotics THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle was live-fire tested by NATO forces in Estonia on April 2nd. The unmanned vehicle performed exceedingly well in Combat Support, Casualty Evacuation and providing advanced situation awareness through the THeMIS observation platform.
According to Milrem Robotics,
“The Estonian Defence Forces Artillery Battalion used Milrem Robotics’ THeMIS UGVs in a live-fire exercise to provide advanced situational awareness, conduct casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) and to support units maneuver while providing direct fire support from various positions.
During the exercise held in April, two THeMIS UGVs were used by the Artillery Battalion: the THeMIS Combat Support integrated with FN Herstal’s deFNder® Light Remote Weapon System (RWS) with a 7,62 mm machine gun and the THeMIS Observe with Acecore’s tethered drone.
The THeMIS Combat was tasked with supporting an advance force that consisted of an antitank weapons team and a forward observer’s team. The main task of the UGV was to provide covering fire and support the retreat of the two teams to main positions as well as transporting their anti-tank weapons. At the main battle position the UGV was used for casualty evacuation.
The THeMIS Observe provided overwatch and enhanced the battalion’s situational awareness. The use of a tethered attachment to the THeMIS UGV provides tactical units with 24 hours of constant observation of the operational area that is essential in the situational awareness prospective as well as peace time live-fire safety perspective.”
Techeblog reported that, Lt Mari-Li Kapp, Estonian Defense Forces, Commander of operations and training section (S3) in the Artillery Battalion said,
“We found several benefits in including UGVs into our battle scenario. Having UGVs as a part of the reconnaissance force that prepares the arrival of the main unit, the UGVs could secure the indirect fire and anti-tank teams by providing direct fire support during an engagement and whilst some units are withdrawing. UGVs could also act as front guards all by themselves since they can provide situational awareness and act as forward observers for indirect fire,”
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As the video footage shows, the system is not autonomous and requires a remote operator to guide it on the battlefield, however, this is a fascinating advancement in ground combat which could render US Military assets like the Bradley Fighting Vehicle obsolete, removing lesser armored vehicles from the mechanized battlefield and theoretically reducing the probability of casualties in unbalanced engagements. (Ex./ Multiple Russian-made TU-14’s v. a single Bradley FV out of position or without air or fire support from an M1 Abrams or airborne assets).
While situations like this have been rare against combatants where the US enjoys a technological and numerical advantage, this may not be characteristic of future battlefields.
The development of UGV’s such as the THeMIS show that NATO forces are intent upon keeping a keen edge, and exercises like this are sure to garner the attention of Vladimir Putin and possibly give him pause as Russian forces continue to concentrate near Ukraine. Hopefully, this gives the Russians something to think about when considering an engagement with the US and our allies.
