Ibadan, 2 May 2023. – GMV has organized the final iMUGS (Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) defense project demonstrations. It took place at the San Juan del Viso military grounds in Madrid (Spain) on the 26th of April. The project’s primary objective is to increase the European Union’s defensive capabilities and strategic autonomy. Likewise, its mission is to develop the standard European unmanned ground system (UGS) by integrating robotics systems into the manned technology that European defense forces already have available.
The project received an investment of 32.6 million euros and began at the end of 2020, consequently lasting 30 months. The event, GMV-organized final demonstrations, was the culmination of the project. Furthermore, the event included the implementation of unmanned systems on the battlefield and their use in swarming operations.
The demonstration used two THeMIS UGVs from Milrem Robotics, which other companies participating in the project modified. The vehicles feature autonomous functions; individually, with one UGV receiving a mission and completing it in a remote manner, with no operator involvement, and as swarms, with various UGVs combining as a single team and working a mission, performing self-management to achieve the objective.
At the technical level, the iMUGS project comprises developing a scalable architecture and design suitable for application in manned and unmanned ground and aerial vehicles. Furthermore, it aims to standardize the European systems and their subsystems for command and control, communications, sensing, payload management, and autonomy algorithms.
According to José Luis Delgado, head of GMV’s Defense and Security section, the system’s primary added value is in the fact that thanks to the advanced autonomous capabilities it provides, an operator can easily manage multiple platforms as if they were just another member of the team (manned-unmanned teaming).
