Despite the fact that russians praise their ‘achievements’ in robotics, such as Marker robotic platform, they are extremely interested in THeMIS UGV. Russian Center of analysis of strategies and technologies stated that would pay million rubles (ap. $16.5 thousand) anyone who brought vehicle “in ‘more or less’ good condition” because they were “technologically interested to get this development”.
This is about the robotic platform THeMIS from Estonian Milrem Robotics company. Such a combat robot was handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a result of the implementation of joint project of the people’s depute Petro Poroshenko (5th president of Ukraine) and the Hospitallers volunteer medical battalion. The goal of the project was to purchase this vehicle and to bring it to Ukraine’s military to help them to defend the country and to organize medevac in a better way.
Read more: Russians Present A Combat Robot of Own Development, But It Was Purchased On AliExpress. Lifehack: How to Disable It
“Casualty evacuation is one of the most crucial and labour-intensive activities in conflicts. Traditionally, it takes several people to carry a stretcher and required medical equipment. However, it would require only one to operate a UGV, which can accommodate several wounded and a lot of equipment. This means that more personnel are available to help more people,” explained Captain (res) Jüri Pajuste, Defense R&D Director at Milrem Robotics. Additionally, onsite training had been provided upon delivery for the quick deployment of the system, company states.
The UGV that Ukraine’s Armed Forces have just received as a donation from the volunteers have gotten the nickname “Crane”. The UGV’s main mission will be evacuation of badly wounded soldiers who can’t get to the higher-level medical facilities by themselves. Moreover, the platform can be used to transport ammunition from rear right to frontline.
“The basic THeMIS Cargo is intended to support dismounted troops by carrying everything a soldier would normally carry, thus letting the fighter concentrate on the mission at hand. It can be outfitted with various types of tie downs and restraints to prevent load shift. The modular construction of the cargo deck allows for it to be modified as required” Milrem Robotics states.
It is able to reach speed of up to 20 km/h, it has pretty compact size, weight of 1630 kg and load capacity of 1200 kg maximum. That’s why it is popular unmanned ground vehicle which 11 countries have bought in 2021, 8 of them are NATO member states.
Read more: Quantix Recon UAS Already Used by Ukrainian Troops (Video)
