The trilateral agreement was signed by Hanwha Aerospace, its Romanian subsidiary Hanwha Aerospace Romania and Milrem Robotics. According to the companies, the partnership is intended to support Romania’s requirements for localised production and industrial participation while expanding Hanwha’s presence in the European defence market.
Under the agreement, Hanwha Aerospace Romania is expected to act as prime contractor for the programme. The company will provide wheeled unmanned ground vehicle platforms based on the Arion-SMET and GRUNT systems, including the upgraded GRUNT 6×6 platform designed for extended range, heavy payload capacity and modular mission adaptability.
Milrem Robotics will contribute its THeMIS tracked unmanned ground vehicle platform and associated technologies to the programme. According to the companies, THeMIS is designed to operate in rugged terrain and features hybrid propulsion and modular payload integration capabilities.
The companies stated that the cooperation reflects a coordinated approach between leading unmanned systems manufacturers, with Hanwha leading programme integration, local production and industrial participation efforts in Romania. The partnership is also intended to strengthen competitiveness in future international unmanned systems markets.
Lino Lim, chief executive officer of Hanwha Aerospace Romania, said: “We are pleased to mark this collaboration at BSDA 2026, which represents an important step in bringing advanced unmanned capabilities into Romania through localized production and industrial cooperation.”
“By combining next-generation UGV technologies from the two companies, we aim to deliver a flexible and scalable solution tailored to Romania’s operational needs, while contributing to the development of its defense industrial base and strengthening European cooperation,” Lim added.
Kuldar Väärsi, chief executive officer of Milrem Robotics, said: “Milrem Robotics’ THeMIS is one of the first unmanned ground vehicles in Europe that has successfully entered series production.”
“With two established manufacturing sites in Europe and extensive experience in technology transfer, we see strong potential to expand manufacturing capabilities to Romania in cooperation with Hanwha, while strengthening regional defense manufacturing capacity,” Väärsi added.
Ahead of the BSDA 2026 exhibition, Hanwha Aerospace and Milrem Robotics also conducted a live Manned-Unmanned Teaming demonstration near Bucharest on 12 May. The exercise integrated Hanwha’s TIGON armoured vehicle, the GRUNT unmanned ground vehicle and Milrem’s THeMIS Cargo platform in a simulated battlefield environment.
According to the companies, the demonstration included reconnaissance and surveillance missions, logistics resupply, casualty evacuation and drone-enabled battlefield monitoring under simulated electronic warfare conditions. The companies stated that the exercise attracted significant interest from Romanian military leaders and defence officials and highlighted growing cooperation on next-generation unmanned battlefield technologies for Romania and wider European markets.
