Norwegian defense company Kongsberg and Ukrainian ground robotic systems developer DevDroid have agreed to jointly manufacture and develop new remotely operated platforms.
The partnership will directly combine the industrial capabilities of the makers of widely used Western remote weapon stations with the real combat experience of Ukrainian engineers.
Explaining why his company chose to partner with a much larger foreign manufacturer, DevDroid CEO Yurii Poritskyi said:
“Ukraine is shaping the future of robotic warfare. Our solutions are tested daily in real combat conditions, and our partnership with KONGSBERG creates opportunities to scale this experience and develop new robotic systems capable of meeting the challenges of the modern battlefield.”
DevDroid's systems have already proven their effectiveness on the battlefield. Its tracked Droid TW 12.7 unmanned ground vehicle, armed with a Browning M2 heavy machine gun, has been officially recognized as the first robotic system to destroy a Russian MT-LB armored vehicle while it was carrying a crew.
Describing the memorandum as a combination of Ukraine’s rapid battlefield-driven innovation with his company’s long industrial experience, Jørgen Bull, KONGSBERG’s Senior Vice President for Land Systems, said:
“The speed of defence technology development in Ukraine today has no equal. This is why partnerships with Ukrainian companies are an important element in building the defence capabilities of the future. Cooperation with DevDroid combines battle-proven solutions with KONGSBERG’s decades of experience in developing advanced defence systems and establishes a foundation for the joint development and production of robotic systems for Ukraine and international markets.”
Cooperation with the European defense industry giant will make it possible to significantly scale up production of existing systems and potentially launch the joint manufacture of remote weapon stations for both the battlefield and international markets.
