iKIT

Milrem Robotics unveiled iKIT in 2019 as a retrofit solution designed to convert existing manned ground vehicles into unmanned or optionally-manned platforms. The Tallinn-based Estonian company, better known for its purpose-built THeMIS tracked unmanned ground vehicle, pitched the kit as a way for militaries to extend the service life of their existing fleets rather than replacing them with dedicated unmanned platforms — a lower-cost route to autonomy for armies that already own large stocks of conventional vehicles.

The system is built around a modular drive-by-wire conversion that interfaces with a host vehicle’s steering, throttle, brakes and transmission, paired with an externally mounted sensor and computing stack. Milrem describes the stack as combining LiDAR, cameras and inertial measurement units feeding a sensor-fusion pipeline that performs simultaneous localisation and mapping for navigation in GPS-degraded conditions. Operators can run the converted vehicle through teleoperation from a hardened control station, waypoint-based autonomous driving, or a leader-follower mode in which one manned vehicle is trailed by one or more autonomous iKIT-equipped platforms. The company has positioned the kit as vehicle-agnostic, with public demonstrations on pickup trucks, light armoured vehicles and tactical trucks.

Public operator data is thin. Unlike the THeMIS, which has been fielded by more than a dozen NATO militaries and seen combat use in Ukraine, iKIT has largely surfaced in trials and industry demonstrations rather than confirmed procurement contracts. Milrem has shown the kit at defence exhibitions including DSEI and Eurosatory, and has described integration work with partner platform makers rather than announcing serial production for a specific army.

iKIT shares architectural DNA with Milrem’s work under the European Union’s integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) consortium, which the company leads. That programme — funded by the European Defence Fund — develops a common UGV architecture for member states, and the autonomy stack feeding iKIT draws on the same software development. Milrem has over time emphasised improved autonomy modes and tighter integration with the command-and-control systems used across its broader UGV portfolio.

Where iKIT fits in the field is as a bridge: not a competitor to purpose-built UGVs like the THeMIS or Rheinmetall’s Mission Master, but a path for militaries to add autonomy to vehicles they already own.