Spain's Sener Aerospace & Defence has unveiled Europe's first autonomous convoy-control system, COMMANDS, developed within a namesake consortium. Work on the project lasted three years and cost €27 million, 90% of which was provided by the European Defence Fund (EDF).
The demonstration took place at General Dynamics European Land Systems' Santa Bárbara Sistemas test range, which also participates in the project. Attendees included Spanish military and government representatives and observers from other European countries.
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From Defense Express's point of view, such developments are a genuine new stage in military logistics. They can both theoretically reduce the number of personnel needed and minimize risks to human life.
The rise of UAVs during the russia–Ukraine war has greatly expanded detection and strike envelopes, putting supply routes under threat, increasing casualties and complicating front-line sustainment.
The heart of COMMANDS is the Naviground system, which coordinates and controls vehicles in a convoy using navigation data drawn from a suite of sensors: satellite navigation, LiDAR, cameras, radar technologies and inertial navigation.
Environmental data is processed with modern methods including artificial intelligence to build a single situational picture. That picture is then passed to optionally piloted platforms built by Iveco Defence Vehicles, which carry out the required maneuvers.
Demonstrated features included a follow-me mode, where all vehicles mirror the lead vehicle, and an autonomous last-mile shuttle capable of ferrying supplies back and forth to sustain logistics on critical front-line sectors.
Notably, Naviground was integrated with Indra's battle management system, which is also used on the ASCOD IFV. That enables integration into NATOs digital infrastructure and eases adoption by ensuring operational compatibility.
Of course, this was a final demonstration and questions remain about how COMMANDS will perform on real battlefields, on broken roads and in off-road conditions that dominate near-frontline zones. Still, the development goes in the right direction and will help adapt logistics to the realities of the drone era.
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