FLEX L12 “forest monster” makes autonomous debut with 5-ton load

Norwegian company UGV Defence has run its FLEX L12 heavy unmanned ground vehicle fully autonomously through a 1.7 km (1.1-mile) off-road course while carrying 5 metric tons (11,000 pounds) of cargo, in a demonstration for Nordic military officers at Camp Rødsmoen in Norway, Chief Executive Carl Ivarsson said on social media.

The tracked vehicle climbed steep inclines and drove through mud, water, large rocks, narrow passages and sharp turns without a driver, Ivarsson said. About 100 people attended the event on Oct. 29, mainly from the Norwegian and Swedish armed forces along with defense industry representatives.

UGV Defence used the day to present what it calls the Nordic Autonomous Mission Platform, a group of companies building equipment around the FLEX L12. The partners include Kongsberg, BAE Systems, Swedish sideloader maker Hammar, Safe-Tec, SKJOLDR and Nordic Shelter. Each company explained how the vehicle could support its products, and several showed their own systems at the event, though Ivarsson did not say which payloads were demonstrated on the vehicle.

“The feedback from defence and industry representatives was very encouraging. More importantly, the day demonstrated what can be achieved when leading Nordic defence companies bring together their expertise around a common autonomous platform,” said Ivarsson.

The FLEX L12 is far larger than most unmanned ground vehicles in service. Its L12-L cargo version is rated for up to 12 tons of payload, and a power-generation variant, the L12-P, carries up to 9 tons with a much larger battery. The vehicle uses a diesel-electric drive, has a top speed of 25 km/h (16 mph) and a stated range of up to 800 km (500 miles), the company said when it showed a civilian version at the DALO Industry Days exhibition in Denmark in August. By comparison, Ukraine’s Protector, one of the largest ground drones in Ukrainian service, weighs about 4 tons in total.

UGV Defence built the FLEX L12 on a civilian tracked carrier and has been reworking it for military use, with a military configuration being prepared for series production. The company has said on its website that deliveries of the FLEX L12-L cargo version are planned from the first quarter of 2027, and it has described possible uses including cargo transport, weapons integration and mobile power generation.

Rødsmoen, near Rena in eastern Norway, is a Norwegian Army camp, and the surrounding training area has hosted earlier unmanned vehicle trials, including a 10-day European Defence Agency test of armed ground robots in February.