Marco Giulio Barone is a political-military analyst based in Paris, and a regular contributor to Mönch magazines. MilTech: THeMIS has sold – in small numbers – to 12 countries so far. What is impeding full-scale industrialisation – technological readiness? Doctrinal difficulties? Kuldar Väärsi: Starting small was anticipated. Armies seek first to assess technology, then to develop doctrine to suit. Only then is larger scale deployment possible. Which is why we provide not simply the vehicles but also full support, including concept development and experimentation. This experimentation works in spirals, with system integration and complexity increasing with every new cycle. Now, armies have developed appropriate tactics for efficient use of the technology – and industry understands their needs. We are already discussing deployment phases with several countries. MilTech: In Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine, unmanned assets have been highly visible. What lessons have you learned n, for example, the use of UGVs in urban or remote terrain? Kuldar Väärsi: Their use has been minimal in these conflicts. Russia used the Uran-9 to support combat operations in Syria – primarily in reconnaissance and direct fire support. Public domain information suggests they failed at this, with multiple technical problems, particularly with the communications used for control. In Afghanistan, the widespread use of EOD robots made sense, given the scale of the IED threat. The relevant technologies have been in use for ten years or more, and operational familiarity was extensive so, on the whole, they worked well. In 2014 in Ukraine, UGVs were used for reconnaissance and resupply – and worked quite well, controlled directly at short ranges. Ukraine’s aim was to reduce casulaties – and I think UGVs achieved that. If they had been autonomous – with waypoint navigation – the effect would have been greater. The fundamental lesson is that UGVs will be used in future warfare in very varied roles. Autonomous functionality will dictate their effectiveness and the precise nature of their roles. MilTech: What lessons did you learn from the performance of THeMIS in Mali? Kuldar Väärsi: Mali was rough – a harsh environment for any technology – over 50°C and exceptionally fine dust-like sand. We learned a lot about cooling and air intake – and mastered it, covering over 1,200km and 300+ operational hours over 12 months. We also learned how to integrate a UGV into a tactical unit and provide logistical support – and that such support will not be the main battlefield role: THeMIS is one of very few UGV’s with such experience in the world. UGVs will most likely be used for various reconnaissance roles – EW, CBRN and targeting. And adding kinetic effectors will increase significantly, to increase human firepower and stand-off capabilities. MilTech: Can you discuss the evolutionary path UGVs are likely to follow as far as autonomy is concerned? Kuldar Väärsi: Autonomous functions in terms of navigation and mobility are key enablers for the efficient use of UGVs. Several customers already use THeMIS with our proprietary autonomy package, MIFIK. We can expect significant growth in autonomy, with new, more capable functionality becoming available. At Milrem, our biggest team is the software developers working on AI and autonomy. We have designed our mobility platforms to be modular and scalable, facilitating upgrades and avoiding obsolescence. MilTech: How relevant is Eurosatory for you? What expectations do you have? Kuldar Väärsi: Eurosatory is a ’home show’ for us as the leading developer of ground robotics in Europe. So we like to demonstrate the direction we are moving in, and how we see the market evolving. Our focus is on combat UGVs, ISR and C2. It is clear that, in terms of capability, armies need integrated systems: the future will see a mix of manned and unmanned systems on the battlefield. Interview MT 3/2022 · 77
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM5Mjg=