Type-X

The Type-X is a tracked unmanned ground combat vehicle in the 12-ton class, built by Estonian manufacturer Milrem Robotics and unveiled in 2020 as the heavier sibling to the company’s smaller THeMIS platform. Where THeMIS is sized for infantry support, the Type-X was designed from the start to fight alongside main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles — a robotic wingman intended to take the most exposed positions in a manoeuvre formation, scout ahead, draw fire, and bring a medium-calibre cannon to bear without putting a crew at risk.

At the heart of the platform is a hybrid diesel-electric drive that gives the vehicle a low acoustic and thermal signature in electric-only mode, a pair of rubber-band tracks rated for road speeds in the 80 km/h range, and an open architecture that lets customers bolt on the turret of their choice. The reference configuration pairs the hull with Kongsberg’s MCT-30 remote turret carrying a 30 mm cannon, the same gun fitted to the US Army’s Stryker Dragoon; other integrations have shown 25 mm, 35 mm and even 50 mm cannons, anti-tank missile launchers, and counter-UAS effectors. Optics, laser rangefinders, and a 360-degree situational-awareness suite feed a remote operator station, with autonomy software handling waypoint navigation, follow-the-leader convoy behaviour, and obstacle avoidance. The vehicle is air-transportable in a CH-47 and can be parachute-dropped.

Milrem has placed Type-X demonstrators with several NATO militaries for evaluation rather than at-scale fielding. The Netherlands has tested the platform under its Robotic and Autonomous Systems programme. France’s KNDS Nexter ran joint trials pairing Type-X with the Jaguar reconnaissance vehicle. The UK’s Ministry of Defence has examined it under the Project Theseus and Robotic Platoon Vehicle initiatives, and Germany’s Bundeswehr has trialled it within the System Panzergrenadier studies. No combat use has been disclosed publicly, though Milrem’s smaller THeMIS has seen frontline service in Ukraine, building a real-world reference for the company’s autonomy stack.

Development continues under the EU-funded iMUGS consortium, which Milrem leads, and through the company’s integration into the UAE-based EDGE Group following the 2023 acquisition. Variants in active marketing include a direct-fire combat configuration, an anti-tank carrier, an air-defence platform, and a logistics mule.

In a robotic combat vehicle category that also fields the American Ripsaw M5, the Russian Uran-9, and a growing field of Chinese entrants, the Type-X stands out for being already in serial production at a NATO-aligned vendor, with a modular bus that lets buyers fit Western-pattern turrets without redesigning the chassis.