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Thursday, 28.03.2024, 16:40
Estonia, Finland, Latvia looking to develop unmanned land systems in framework of PESCO
Germany, France and Belgium have also expressed interest in
joining the project. A total of 30-40 mln euros has been earmarked for use from
the European Defense Fund, with participating countries also set to make a
contribution. The start date for the planned project is the first half of 2019.
"The same considerable growth that we saw with unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) 10-15 years ago can be expected in the near future for
unmanned land platforms. The project's ambition is, in cooperation with
partners, to develop a solution for unmanned land systems, which would become
the European standard," Kusti Salm,
director of the defense investments department at the Ministry of Defense,
said.
An unmanned land vehicle, along with an autonomous control
system, cyber defense solution and integrated network of sensors, will be
developed within the framework of the project. The system's initial functions
are associated with improving situational awareness on the battlefield and
raising the level of efficiency of the maneuvering and transportation
capabilities of troops.
For example, Milrem
Robotics deals with developing unmanned land vehicles specifically for the
military field in Estonia. Milrem's
main product is the THeMIS unmanned tracked ground vehicle, which can fulfill
various tasks on the battlefield. THeMIS can transport soldiers' equipment but
difficult weapons systems can also be integrated to it.
In preparation for the project, Estonia has started, under
the leadership of the Estonian National Defense College, a research and
development project for raising the tactical level of unit combat capabilities
for unmanned systems, which is being implemented in cooperation with the nine
members of the Estonian defense industry consortium.
The unmanned land system development project was submitted
to the second application round for PESCO projects. The approval of EU
ministers of defense is required in order to start projects that are being
carried out within the framework of the European Union's Permanent Structured
Cooperation.