TSAMTO, June 23. The Australian company XTEK and the Estonian Milrem Robotics intend to cooperate in order to develop light armor for the THeMIS remotely controlled ground vehicle in accordance with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed at the Land Forces 21 exhibition in Brisbane.
According to Janes Defense Weekly, the new document is a development of the memorandum of understanding signed in December 2020, according to which XTEK was granted the status of the exclusive distributor of the Milrem Robotics company in Australia and New Zealand.
The THeMIS tracked DOOM is currently delivered to customers from nine countries, seven of which, including France, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, are members of NATO.
The latest memorandum of understanding states that the companies will cooperate in the development of solutions for the creation of ballistic armor from composite materials, using the design capabilities and potential production facilities offered by the Australian XTEK. According to XTEK Managing Director Philippe Odouard, the level of protection will be determined after discussion with customers.
Another memorandum of understanding was signed by XTEK with the Australian artificial intelligence developer Athena AI. It provides for the integration of the Athena target detection and recognition algorithm into the software module of the AirWolf tactical target designation system developed by XTEK.
The results of the integration should be tested on the THeMIS DUM, acquired by XTEK and equipped with a remote-controlled R400 armament module from EOS, armed with a 30-mm cannon and a Javelin ATGM.
As noted by F.Oduard, DOOM THeMIS in this configuration can provide combat capabilities comparable to human-controlled equipment at a significantly lower cost.