The presentation of the iMUGS project (Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) organised by KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) took place at the Lehnin military training area. It is part of the EDIDP (European Defence Industry Development Programme). The goal of the project is to develop and test a modular, secure, and scalable architecture for future unmanned systems, and to underpin this with a variety of demonstrations. The event, attended by distinguished international guests from government and armed forces, focused on demonstrating the interplay of ground- and airborne unmanned and manned systems. The demonstration also showed the use of cybersecurity to defend against current threats, and its application in autonomous solutions.
Within this context, KMW is leading the Manned-Unmanned Teaming sub-project. The BOXER and DINGO vehicle systems form the interfaces for unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned airborne systems. All information from the hybrid systems converges in this command centre and can be evaluated and forwarded. In the iMUGS project, Diehl Defence is contributing significant capabilities to the THeMIS unmanned demonstration vehicle autonomy kit. Drawing on existing in-house capabilities, the company has worked with Nexter and Safran to develop features for autonomous operation. For Diehl Defence, the focus was on the follow-on mode, which is purely camera-based and operated without GPS, thereby demonstrating a high degree of maturity with respect to the military end product.
As part of the demonstration at the Lehnin military training area, Diehl Defence will also present four ‘Mattro Ziesel’ unmanned soldier support vehicles equipped with the PLATON autonomy kit developed exclusively by the company. These vehicles have autonomy functions that include following, patrolling, and waypoint navigation. In addition to the ability to follow a person as described above, vehicles are able to pursue a “learned” path (MULE/Patrolling) while avoiding obstacles. In addition, the vehicles use waypoint navigation to cover a specified distance while taking obstacles into account. Within the framework of the event, Diehl Defence will also exhibit a ground-based IRIS-T SLS air defence system, the variant exhibited being integrated on an EAGLE vehicle from GDELS (Mowag). The Diehl Defence exhibit is complemented by a model of the HPEM SkyWolf protection system.
iMUGS is a 32,6 MEUR project, a 13-party collaboration focused on developing a modular and scalable architecture for hybrid manned-unmanned systems. The aim of the project is to standardize a European-wide ecosystem for aerial and ground platforms, command, control, and communication equipment, sensors, payloads, and algorithms. The project addresses challenges such as enhanced interoperability, increased situational awareness, and faster decision-making. The parties involved are Milrem Robotics (project coordinator), Bittium, Diehl Defence, dotOcean, GMV Aerospace and Defence, Insta Advance, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT), NEXTER Systems, the Royal Military Academy of Belgium, Safran Electronics & Defense, Talgen Cybersecurity, and sol.one.
