Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) and Milrem Robotics have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand cooperation on uncrewed ground systems, including plans to support local production and sustainment of Milrem’s THeMIS Uncrewed Ground Vehicle (UGV) in Australia.
The agreement was signed at the Land Forces Conference 2026 in Perth, where HDA is displaying a THeMIS UGV it has purchased. According to HDA, the platform is currently in use or involved in robotics programs across 20 countries.
Under the MoU, HDA will establish a framework to market, pursue local production, sell and sustain the THeMIS in Australia and the wider region. The proposed activities include developing an Australian supply chain, establishing local maintenance and upgrade capabilities, and integrating payloads and subsystems for regional customer requirements.
HDA said this work will be undertaken at the Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence (H-ACE) in regional Victoria, with Milrem Robotics providing localisation planning, technology transfer, technical know-how and engineering expertise.
“We are excited to work with Milrem Robotics to bring the highly capable THeMIS UGV to Australia and collaborate on future development,” HDA Head of Research and Development Glenn Halupka said.
Halupka said HDA also intends to work with Australian defence industry on the development and integration of supporting technologies, adding that the companies are conducting training activities ahead of planned demonstrations later this year.
The cooperation also provides an option to integrate Milrem Robotics’ Intelligent Function Integration Kit (MIFIK) with HDA’s uncrewed and crewed platforms, including vehicles in the Redback and Huntsman families. Milrem says MIFIK can add functions such as autonomous navigation and mission execution to different vehicle types.
Milrem Robotics CEO Kuldar Väärsi said the agreement would support the company’s efforts to develop local capabilities in Australia.
“We want to establish the capability to integrate, sustain and further develop our systems locally, while bringing Australian technologies and industry into the solutions we offer in the region,” Väärsi said.
The MoU builds on existing cooperation between HDA’s parent company, Hanwha Aerospace, and Milrem Robotics. The companies previously announced plans to cooperate on ground robotics initiatives in South Korea and are jointly pursuing Romania’s uncrewed ground vehicle program, including potential local production and industrial participation.
