RCV Type-X - Estonian
RCV Type-X unmanned combat vehicle demonstrator with John Cockerill CPWS Gen. 2. The launchers of anti-tank guided missiles installed on the right side of the tower are noteworthy.
Established in 2013, the small Estonian private company Milrem Robotics, thanks to the success of TheMIS unmanned vehicle, has increased its scientific and financial potential over several years to implement much more serious projects. There are many indications that the combat vehicle that will carry modern armies into the future will be unmanned and may have the logo of a Tallinn company.
Estonia is a small country, but very open to technical innovations – suffice it to say that the digitalization of public administration there started very early. Therefore, it is not surprising that engineers from Estonia have also focused on developing the most promising technical solutions, such as unmanned ground vehicles. The symbol of the development of this industry in this Baltic country is the company Milrem Robotics, created in 2013. Its most famous "brainchild" is THeMIS (Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System), which debuted at the London DSEI 2015 exhibition. This is a medium size - 240 × 200 × 115 cm - and mass - 1630 kg - tracked unmanned vehicle with a hybrid drive. In most situations, it requires control or control by the operator (especially when working with the use of working tools or weapons), but systems and algorithms are constantly being developed to increase the autonomy of the platform. At the moment, the safe distance from which you can drive a vehicle with a speed of up to 20 km / h is 1500 m. The operating time is from 12 to 15 hours, and in purely electric mode - 0,5 ÷ 1,5 hours. In essence, THeMIS is an unmanned platform that can be configured with a large degree of freedom. Over the years, it has been represented by various types of remotely controlled gun positions and light uninhabited turrets (for example, Kongsberg Protector RWS), guided missile launchers (for example, Brimstone) or revolving munitions (Hero family), in the configuration of an UAV carrier, a transport vehicle. (for example, to carry an 81mm mortar), etc. There are also civilian options to support users such as fire brigades, forestry services, as well as an agricultural option - a light agricultural tractor. Focusing on military options, it is worth noting that today this is one of the most common (if not the most massive) vehicles in its class in the world. So far, THeMIS has detected nine insecure users, six of which are NATO countries: Estonia, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America. The machine was tested in combat conditions by a contingent of the Estonian Armed Forces during a mission to Mali, where it participated in Operation Barkhane.
The older and much smaller brother of the RCV Type-X, THeMIS, was a major commercial success, purchased by nine countries, mostly for testing purposes.
In addition, Milrem Robotics is engaged in the design and development of systems related to the support of unmanned systems. In this direction, we can mention IS-IA2 (Analysis and evaluation of the implementation of intelligent systems), which is to support customers from the planning stage of the implementation of systems using elements of artificial intelligence to the stage of operation of the implemented solutions. The MIFIK (Milrem Intelligent Function Integration Kit) system is also a great achievement of the Estonians - it is essentially a set of tools and devices that allows you to build any class of unmanned ground vehicles around it. It is used by both THeMIS and the hero of this article. However, before we get to it, we should mention perhaps the biggest success of the company - the conclusion of an agreement with the European Commission to develop the iMUGS (Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) in June 2020. a program worth 32,6 million euros (of which only 2 million are own funds of the countries participating in the program, the rest of the funds come from European funds); pan-European, a standard set of unmanned ground and air platforms, command, control and communication systems, sensors, algorithms, etc. The system prototype must be based on TheMIS vehicle, and Milrem Robotics has the status of a consortium leader in this project. The prototype vehicle will be tested in various operating and climatic conditions in exercises conducted by the armed forces of the EU Member States and in separate tests. The project implementation country is Estonia, but technical requirements have been agreed with: Finland, Latvia, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain. The project implementation period is set to three years. The extensive European cooperation, in which the Estonian company is already participating, opens up new prospects for another Milrem Robotics project.
BMP Type-X
On May 20, 2020, the older brother of THeMIS was revealed. The car was given the name RCV Type X (later RCV Type-X), i.e. combat robotic vehicle type X (probably from the word experimental, experimental, Polish). experimental). At the time, the company said the car was built in collaboration with an unknown foreign partner who funded the project. Despite this, the RCV Type-X will also be offered to other countries, especially existing THeMIS buyers. The project was to be implemented over several years and concern the first unmanned combat vehicle in Europe, designed specifically to interact with armored and mechanized formations. At first, the creators showed only concept art, showing a small car that resembles a tank in its layout. It was armed with a turret equipped with a medium-caliber rapid-fire cannon (probably the drawing showed a machine with an American 50-mm XM913 cannon, developed by Picatinny Arsenal engineers in collaboration with Northrop Grumman) and a machine gun coaxial with it. Numerous smoke grenade launchers were installed on the tower - on both sides of the yoke of the main armament there was room for two groups of ten launchers, and two more groups of four - on the sides of the tower. Its rear was protected by additional armor modules, probably reactive (interestingly, this was the only area of the vehicle).
