Hanwha Aerospace Successfully Conducts First Manned-Unmanned Integrated UGV Demonstration in Romania

The Only Korean Company Participating in the ‘BSDA 2026’ Event

Integrated Operation of TIGON Manned Armored Vehicle with GRUNT and THeMIS

Hanwha Aerospace has successfully completed an integrated performance demonstration of its manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) combat system in Romania.

On May 14, Hanwha Aerospace announced that it was the only Korean company to participate in a performance demonstration event held on May 12 (local time) in Bucharest, Romania, in conjunction with the international defense exhibition ‘BSDA 2026’.

On the 12th (local time), Hanwha Aerospace's GRUNT multi-purpose unmanned vehicle participated and carried out missions at a performance demonstration event (Demo Day) held at an outdoor tactical training ground near Bucharest, Romania. Hanwha Aerospace

During the event, Hanwha Aerospace showcased its manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) system, which integrates the TIGON wheeled armored vehicle and the GRUNT multipurpose unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), alongside the THeMIS UGV developed by Estonia’s Milrem Robotics.

In the first demonstration, Hanwha Aerospace presented a future battlefield scenario in which a manned armored vehicle and unmanned ground vehicles work in tandem. The GRUNT and THeMIS UGVs were deployed ahead into hazardous areas to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions in cooperation with drones. The TIGON armored vehicle was responsible for troop transport and fire support.

Attracting significant attention from attendees, the GRUNT is a next-generation UGV developed based on the existing Arion-SMET platform. It features a hybrid propulsion system, a maximum payload capacity of approximately 900 kg, autonomous convoy driving, automatic detection and tracking, and electronic warfare countermeasure capabilities.

In the subsequent integrated performance demonstration by the Romanian Army, both the GRUNT and THeMIS participated, conducting reconnaissance and surveillance missions and demonstrating their strengths in force protection and support for maneuver operations.

A Hanwha Aerospace representative said, “This event marks the first time a domestically developed military unmanned vehicle has undergone a live performance demonstration in Europe. It is significant in that it showcased our competitiveness in the European and global UGV markets.”

Byung Ho Park, head of the LS4 Business Division at Hanwha Aerospace, stated, “The successful completion of the first performance demonstration of a domestically developed UGV in Europe has proven our technological competitiveness and operational scalability in the global market. By verifying our manned-unmanned teaming system’s ability to integrate multiple missions in real operational environments, we not only presented the next-generation ground warfare operational concepts required by NATO and European customers, but also proposed future directions for the development of multipurpose unmanned systems pursued by the Korean military.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.