Robotic complex Milrem THeMIS in Ukraine

The first THeMIS RTK delivered to Ukraine, August 2022

In recent months, Ukraine has become a real testing ground for testing and testing foreign weapons and equipment, incl. new types. This time it became known that the Ukrainian armed formations will have to master and test the THeMIS robotic complex from the Estonian company Milrem Robotics. The first product of this type has already arrived in Ukraine.

Latest news

About the appearance in Ukraine Robot THeMIS became known in early September from Ukrainian sources. Some information about the purchase of such equipment and plans for its further operation are given. In addition, the first photos from the Ukrainian base where the equipment was delivered were published.

Milrem Robotics reportedly supplies its equipment on a commercial basis. The complexes are ordered by structures controlled by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. For greater importance, the purchase of foreign products received the code designation "Crane".

The number of RTKs ordered and their cost were not reported. At the same time, it is known that the first complex was delivered to Ukraine in August, before the official announcement. Now Ukrainian servicemen are mastering the novelty and preparing for its use in the combat zone. The delivery of new products is also expected, but the timing is not specified.

The first THeMIS RTK was delivered in the configuration of a remotely controlled / autonomous transport platform. In fact, this is just a chassis with the necessary devices and assemblies. This car is planned to be used to deliver various cargoes to the front line. She will have to transport ammunition, provisions, etc. In the opposite direction, she will evacuate the wounded or take out other goods.

Information about the appearance of THeMIS in the combat zone has not yet been received. It is possible that Ukrainian operators have not yet completed their training and are not yet ready to use such equipment on the front line. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that the responsible persons are in no hurry to send this RTK to the front because of their unwillingness to expose it to risks.

Million Offer

RTK Milrem THeMIS is one of the most interesting modern developments in its class. The complex has already attracted the attention of several foreign armies, and they have acquired experienced equipment for testing. In addition, advanced foreign development is of obvious interest to Russian specialists. In this regard, curious measures are being taken.

September 4 - literally the day after the appearance News on the Ukrainian side, the Russian Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) announced an award for a captured Estonian-made RTK. Military personnel or representatives of law enforcement agencies who manage to obtain such a sample in a tolerable condition will receive a reward of 1 million rubles.

The extracted THeMIS should be handed over to the Department of Defense for study. Based on the results of the preliminary inspection and examination of this sample, CAST will pay the due fee. It is reported that such a proposal has been agreed with the relevant state bodies.

Thus, the THeMIS transport platforms still remain in the Ukrainian rear and have not yet been sent to the front line. But a warm welcome awaits them in the war zone. Like other materiel of Ukrainian formations, imported robots can simply be destroyed by fire. However, they have a chance to escape - becoming a trophy, for which a good reward is due.

Technical features

The THeMIS product is designed and manufactured by the Estonian company Milrem Robotics. At the same time, there is information about the participation in the project of organizations from countries with a more developed military industry. THeMIS is a self-propelled tracked platform with a high degree of autonomy. On such a chassis, various payloads can be mounted, from cargo platforms to combat modules.

The THeMIS chassis is built on the basis of two side armored hulls with caterpillar propellers, between which there is a platform for the target load. The product is equipped with a hybrid power plant, including an unknown type of diesel engine, a battery and traction motors. Chassis tracks cover side hulls; above them there are light shelves with the possibility of mounting the necessary tools.

THeMIS has a length of 2,4 m with a width of 2 m and a height of 1,15 m. The curb weight is 1635 kg. Normal load capacity is defined as 750 kg, maximum - 1200 kg. The chassis can reach speeds up to 20 km/h. The use of all units of the power plant ensures operation for 15 hours. Batteries last for 90 minutes. work without diesel. When installing certain loads, the operating time is reduced in accordance with their energy consumption.

THeMIS product in factory testing

The platform is equipped with a set of video cameras and various vision sensors. Data from them enters the control system with a high degree of autonomy. The machine can detect various features of the road and take them into account when driving. There is a self-driving mode on a given route. In addition, it is possible to directly control the operator via radio. Combat modules or other payload options can be integrated into the standard control system.

Reasons for interest

RTK THeMIS is of obvious interest to our army and industry. If it is possible to obtain such a machine as a whole or in a damaged form, it will be carefully studied and, if possible, tested. This will allow you to collect all the necessary information, as well as draw some conclusions.

First of all, studying the trophy will help you understand why this specimen is so popular. Ukraine is already the 12th customer of THeMIS, and before it, this test equipment was purchased by more industrially and militarily developed countries. 7 customer countries are members of NATO, incl. France, which even deployed its RTKs as part of the operation in Mali. Having studied the resulting complex, our specialists will be able to make some assumptions and conclusions regarding the development of robotics in the Alliance.

THeMIS is also interesting from a technical point of view. First of all, the trophy will allow you to determine the level of development of technologies that are the basis of one of the most advanced modern projects. It cannot be ruled out that the Estonian development really has a high potential, and foreign interest in it is justified.

In the course of working with the trophy, Russian specialists will carefully study the control system used and associated instruments. RTK THeMIS is distinguished by a high degree of autonomy and has repeatedly shown its capabilities during tests. It is necessary to determine the technological basis of such achievements.

French THeMIS in Mali

Perhaps our industry will pay attention to other features of the Estonian platform. Curious solutions may underlie the overall architecture of the complex, hybrid power plant, etc. Possibilities for integrating target equipment or special loads should also be explored.

Probably, certain technologies and ideas of the THeMIS project have a high potential. Accordingly, they should not only be studied, but also adopted or rethought based on their own experience. Further, they can find application in domestic projects of similar RTKs. At the same time, it is possible that our specialists will not find anything new for themselves in the captured sample.

It should be noted that working with a foreign model in any case will be useful for our military and industry. They will be able to find out the current state of affairs in foreign robotics, identify the most useful ideas and technologies, and evaluate their prospects. All this information in one way or another can affect the development of our projects.

Everyone's Benefit

In general, there is a curious situation in which all participants receive certain benefits. Ukraine has ordered an advanced foreign sample of robotics and expects to get new opportunities with it. In addition, the Ukrainian "enthusiasts" who organized the purchase of THeMIS are unlikely to have missed the opportunity to make money on supplies. The Estonian company Milrem Robotics, in turn, will be able to test its main development during full-fledged combat operations against a developed enemy.

However, Russia can benefit the most in such a situation. Just one whole THeMIS will give our specialists a lot of important and necessary information that can be used to create their own complexes or to counter strangers. And the experience of recent months shows that our troops are capable of obtaining such an important trophy.

Comments

[Kuziming]

Nooooo, we won't catch up with the Estonians...
It's kind of indecent...
How is Hasek:
"Lieutenant Dub whispered to Lieutenant Lukash that "the wing of a stork with a fish tail" wiped Captain Sagner's nose very well."

[Bobik012]

It strongly seems to me that this developer company paid a million rubles for a bunch of publications about this prodigy. Not the Americans, not the Japanese, and not even the Jews came up with a technique that has no analogues ... Estonians! In the former collective farm MTS. I especially liked about the hybrid power plant. So yes, it is Estonia that is at the forefront of modern engine building ... I personally find it funny

[svoroponov]

You're right. This development is very simple. And Estonian in it is only the chassis. The rest is purchased, not my own. And the company sells it thanks to the Americans and the British. They pay for the delivery of this platform. Kind of like a sign of solidarity with Estonia. For their own army, they are generally not considered for adoption. She can't move very well over rough terrain. She has poor mobility.
Well, in the development of such technology in Estonia - they once had about 100 developers under the guidance of German specialists participated in the creation of a 1-kilogram satellite. After the launch, he only managed to sob and went underground, and still not a word from him, They voiced a lot of things or declared according to the latest developments, but it all came down to the level of crafts of the circle in the House of Pioneers.

[APASUS]

Quote: Bobik012

So yes, it is Estonia that is at the forefront of modern engine building ...

This is just a cooperation of countries. Estonians simply connected everything in one place. This is the same Bayraktar

[Bobik012]

Bayraktar becomes a household name - an advertised prodigy, which in fact turned out to be bullshit

[rocket757]

One thing is clear ... they advertise it for a year, they shove it everywhere, but no one needs it ...

[Kuziming]

Quote: rocket757

One thing is clear ... they advertise it for a year, they shove it everywhere, but no one needs it ...

Of course, no one needs. In urban battles, such crap will turn off from a neighboring street, give a volley of the same bumblebees, and again no one will need it.

[svoroponov]

The company did not install weapons on this platform. This is a transport platform.

[Reader 47]

It became interesting, I read it. Leftover residue. Modern journalism according to US standards. The main idea is constantly repeated in a circle, plus a lot of water is added. As a result - the whole article. New and interesting in it per paragraph.

[restless]

Lived up. Under the USSR, the spacecraft flew into space in automatic mode, took off and landed, but in our time they cannot make an electric cart on tracks.

"However, Russia can get the greatest benefit in such a situation. Just one whole THeMIS will give our specialists a lot of important and necessary information that can be used to create their own complexes or to counter someone else's. And the experience of recent months shows that our troops are able to obtain such important trophy."

The degradation of our science and technology is obvious, where is our chief nanotechnologist, he would probably be able to master the funds for the construction of such a nanotechnological device, but seriously, we are in a big operation and we need to get out of it along the entire range of military and civilian products .

[svoroponov]

Yes, we have had robotic installations for a long time - both for mine clearance and for fire support during special operations, and so on. But you really look at how you would use this complex in Ukraine in those terrain conditions. It is up to the first trench or a pile of stones and ruins, such complexes have very poor cross-country ability and funnels, trenches and hilly terrain, and even more so forest or even shrubs, and this robot is inoperable - as they say - stuck. And yes, you need to direct it. Mines have not been canceled. And even anti-personnel can disable it. That is, it is really difficult to apply it at the forefront, if you say that it is not possible. That's why he's not there.

[Kuziming]

I agree. In addition, without a bayonet and butt, this complex is practically useless in close combat.

[Bobik012]

The degradation of our science

Rather, it is a degradation of those who seriously read this rubbish.

[AVESSALOM]

Something similar was done at one time at the "Stations of Young Technicians" and "Palaces of Pioneers". Maybe it's easier to raise their archives?))

[DeGreen]

Kirill Ryabov, do Estonians pay you money? You are constantly promoting this company. There are no such platforms in Ukraine. No. From the word at all. If the speaker is English, then there is a lot of material on the Internet about the fact that there are only prototypes that are raw. And what Poroshenko wanted to buy, but did not buy. Because there is nothing. I repeat, this is a base from an electric tractor or an excavator, with brains a la drone. And only thanks to your PR people know about these tractors. There is not a single video with these tractors in any army in the world

[Oleg812spb]

Most likely, the secret of the popularity of this prodigy lies in the amount of kickbacks ...

[Serega1]

I didn’t understand what was valuable in this robot, and also what was the problem in creating the same one, what was so difficult about it?

[Knell wardenheart]

The product is unnecessarily expensive (2 control systems, 2-4 electric motors + batteries) and difficult to manufacture, despite the fact that it is quite a consumable unit for its intended purpose.
For a combat product, it does not have enough armor (the photo shows that in the best case it is weak local bulletproof), for reconnaissance it is too overall and not autonomous enough on the battery, for an evacuation one, as I already noticed, it is too expensive and quite heavy, due to the expanded functionality. Judging by the photo, the caterpillars do not give the impression of a record-breaking cross-country ability, and even more so a record-breaking resistance to combat factors.
As I already wrote as a "universal" product - the robot combines two incompatible sets of requirements for combat-reconnaissance and evacuation-delivery. If it were smaller and in a modular version for a diesel engine or an electric motor specifically, it would be much better. But the current solution IMHO is not the most successful probe, at best, for the near rear or the gray zone.
Perhaps the advantages of the product are its cheapness (relative to existing analogues and not in principle, as a suitable product divided into two different functionalities), perhaps the Estonians widely distribute buns trying to promote themselves as "Bayraktar Makina".

[Serega1]

I don't see anything of value in this platform.
In fact, a large machine on the control panel with sensors and nothing more. All this is easy to do yourself.

[Alexander Vorontsov]

However, Russia can benefit the most in such a situation. Just one whole THeMIS will give our specialists a lot of important and necessary information that can be used to create their own complexes or to counter strangers. And the experience of recent months shows that our troops are capable of obtaining such an important trophy.

Survived.
Previously, they were the first in space exploration.
Now we are told that it will be a great success to capture a self-propelled craft ala tractor to obtain the most valuable engineering technologies, apparently such as a wheel, a caterpillar ...
Boo ha ha