On October 26th, GMV participated in the 5th demonstration of the Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) program, which took place in France at the military training grounds in Satory, Versailles. The demonstration featured the first entirely autonomous intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission, through integration of the following MUGS components:

• Command and control (C2) station, developed by GMV
• Three THeMiS platforms
• Tactical radios
• Autonomy kit
• Algorithms integrated into the autonomy backbone

The operational scenarios, which were implemented with assistance from the French army, were used to emphasize the project’s advantages in tactical situations, such as for “arrival at site”, “area reconnaissance”, “delimitation of the secure perimeter” and “evacuation of the injured”. All of the iMUGS project’s autonomous missions and payloads have been defined and controlled by the C2ISR tactical system developed by GMV.

In addition to defining the environment and performing mission planning and control, the C2ISR tactical system allows handling of the payloads for the unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), with standardization based on the architecture defined in the iMUGS. The vehicles used in the demonstration were those known as THeMIS, manufactured by the Estonian company Milrem. Their installed payloads included an ISR camera used to process and visualize the battlespace and targets, an acoustic gunfire detector and an integrated laser alert system that can detect situations where the vehicle has been identified as a target.

An ad hoc environment was also created in order to demonstrate the capacity for autonomous resolution of contingencies in situations where routes are blocked or mobility is reduced.

Demonstrations like the one executed in Versailles are providing a more in-depth perspective on concepts such as Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUMT) and autonomous capabilities for patrols and mission planning, all presented from the operator’s point of view. In addition to the autonomous functions, the cyberdefense system defined in the iMUGS was also applied during the demonstration. Finally, the presentation of static technology was used to encourage spontaneous discussion among those in attendance and the iMUGS partners, while at the same time demonstrating the swarming function of the iMUGS during a simulation.

GMV’s participation in the iMUGS project is based on its acquired experience with C2 ground systems, C2 combatant systems, and joint ISR (JISR) interoperability, all of which are areas where GMV is one of the leading companies in Europe. GMV is the Spanish Ministry of Defense’s preferred supplier of command and control systems for artillery and infantry, and since 2016 it has been responsible for maintenance and evolution of the EUCCIS C2 system for the European External Action Service (EEAS).