Estonian robotics company Milrem Robotics has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea’s Hanwha Systems to explore integrating advanced sensors, electronic warfare tools and weapons onto autonomous ground vehicles.
Estonia’s unmanned ground vehicle innovators keep adding heavyweight partners to its network. Milrem Robotics announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hanwha Systems at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris, exploring the integration of advanced sensing, electronic warfare and weapon integration solutions onto autonomous ground vehicles, addressing what both companies describe as growing demand for unmanned force protection and area security capabilities.
Under the agreement, the two companies will assess how to integrate Hanwha Systems’ payload technologies with Milrem Robotics’ autonomous ground vehicle platforms to support a wide range of mission requirements and customer needs.
The payloads under evaluation span electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors, radar, electronic warfare and jamming capabilities, laser systems, and weapon integration solutions — a combination that would let unmanned ground vehicles both detect threats and respond to them without putting personnel in the line of fire.
Milrem and Hanwha: protecting forces without exposing people
“The combination of advanced sensors, electronic warfare systems and autonomous ground platforms creates new opportunities for protecting military forces and critical infrastructure. Through this cooperation with Milrem Robotics, we aim to explore integrated capabilities that address evolving operational requirements,” said Peter Bae, Senior Vice President at Hanwha Systems.
“Military forces are looking for versatile unmanned solutions that can rapidly adapt to evolving mission requirements,” said Kuldar Väärsi, chief executive of Milrem Robotics. “Combining Hanwha Systems’ advanced payload technologies with Milrem Robotics’ autonomous ground platforms creates opportunities to develop highly capable unmanned systems that enhance operational effectiveness while keeping personnel out of harm’s way.”
Hanwha Systems is a South Korean defence electronics group active across land, sea, air, space and cyber domains, supplying sensors, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, communications and command-and-control solutions to militaries worldwide. The MoU adds Hanwha to a growing roster of international partners exploring payload and sensor integration with Milrem’s platforms, as unmanned ground vehicles increasingly move from support roles toward frontline force-protection tasks. Previously, the company has signed deals with partners from Poland, the UK, the Netherlands and other countries.
For Hanwha Systems, this is also not the first joint declaration with Estonian companies — it has already striked MoUs with Frankenburg, and pledged over €100M to local ecosystem.
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