CUGS project marks major step forward for European unmanned ground capabilities

Rome, 21/10/2026- The Combat Unmanned Ground System (CUGS) project has successfully reached its final major milestone, demonstrating the progress achieved in the development of next -generation uncrewed technologies for ground operations. Funded by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and coordinated by Leonardo, CUGS is the EDA’s largest research and technology initiative in this sector, aimed at developing and validating new uncrewed technologies for land operations.

During the project’s final demonstration, several remotely operated systems developed by the partner countries were tested in simulated operational scenarios. The tests demonstrated their full interoperability and highlighted the potential of European cooperation in developing technologies based on a common open architecture.

The three simulated scenarios brought together the Lince VTLM-2 with Hitrole (IDV and Leonardo, Italy), Themis (Milrem, Estonia) with Hornet (Arquus, France), ZSMU 1276 (Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów, Poland), Wiesel (Rheinmetall, Germany), Scout Vehicle (WAT and PIAP research institutions, Poland), Patria AMV (Patria, Finland), Scout UAV (Thales, France), and loitering munitions systems (MBDA) in a complex operational environment, with the Command Post located several kilometres away f rom the operational area. Each system was deployed at a different location, and all were tasked with reaching and identifying a number of simulated potential threats.

The combat functional modules developed as part of the project and integrated onboard the uncrewed vehicles provided autonomous navigation—including situational awareness through the use of onboard sensors—as well as Communication-Command-Control and Cooperation capabilities and effector management capabilities. The land and aerial systems were therefore able to autonomously move, detect, track, classify, and engage targets, supported by Artificial Intelligence and under the continuous supervision of human operators (human-in-the-loop), who could take control of the platforms involved at any time.

Leonardo’s role as Coordinator of this project, building on its leadership across other major European defence programmes, further strengthens the company’s position as a key international hub f or land defence.

Photo courtesy Italian MoD