Christian Budde
KNDS Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Krauss-Maffei-Str. 11
D-80997 München
Tel.: +49 89 8140-5498
Fax: +49 89 8140-4977
E-Mail: knds-pressservice (at) knds.de
iMUGS demonstration in Lehnin
15.12.2022The presentation of the iMUGS project (Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) organized by KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) took place at the Lehnin military training area. It is part of the EDIDP (European Defence Industry Development Progamme). The goal of the project is to develop and test a modular, secure, and scalable architecture for future unmanned systems, and to underpin this with a variety of demonstrations.
The event, attended by distinguished international guests from government and armed forces, focused on demonstrating the interplay of ground- and airborne unmanned and manned systems. The demonstration also showed the use of cybersecurity to defend against current threats, and its application in autonomous solutions.
Within this context, KMW is leading the Manned-Unmanned Teaming sub-project. The BOXER and DINGO vehicle systems form the interfaces for unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned airborne systems. All information from the hybrid systems converges in this command center and can be evaluated and forwarded.
In the iMUGS project, Diehl Defence is contributing significant capabilities to the THeMIS unmanned demonstration vehicle autonomy kit. Drawing on existing in-house capabilities, the company has worked with Nexter and Safran to develop features for autonomous operation. For Diehl Defence, the focus was on the follow-on mode, which is purely camera-based and operated without GPS, thereby demonstrating a high degree of maturity with respect to the military end product.
As part of the demonstration at the Lehnin military training area, Diehl Defence will also present four "Mattro Ziesel" unmanned soldier support vehicles equipped with the PLATON autonomy kit developed exclusively by the company.
These vehicles have autonomy functions that include following, patrolling, and waypoint navigation. In addition to the ability to follow a person as described above, vehicles are able to pursue a "learned" path (MULE/Patrolling) while avoiding obstacles. In addition, the vehicles use waypoint navigation to cover a specified distance while taking obstacles into account.
Within the framework of the event, Diehl Defence will also exhibit a ground-based IRIS-T SLS air defense system, the variant exhibited being integrated on an EAGLE vehicle from GDELS (Mowag). The Diehl Defence exhibit is complemented by a model of the HPEM SkyWolf protection system.
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KNDS is the result of the association of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, two of the leading European manufacturers of military land systems based in Germany and France.
KNDS forms a Group of around 9,500 employees, with a 2023 turnover of 3.3 billion euro, an order backlog of around 16 billion euro and incoming orders of 7.8 billion euro. The range of its products includes main battle tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, weapons systems, ammunition, military bridges, customer services, battle management systems, training solutions, protection solutions and a wide range of equipment.
The formation of KNDS represents the beginning of consolidation in land defense systems industry in Europe. The alliance of KMW and Nexter enhances both groups’ competitiveness and international positions, as well as their ability to meet the needs of their respective national army. In addition, KNDS offers to its European and NATO customers the opportunity of increased standardization and interoperability for their defense equipment, with a dependable industrial base.
KNDS headquarters are based in Amsterdam.