In October, GMV took part in the C2 iMUGS Field Operation demonstration for the Spanish Army’s logistics support command (MALE), as part of the preparation phase for the Canary Islands Command’s units involved in the European Union’s MILEX 23 exercise. This demonstration took place in Spain at the military training grounds in Chinchilla, Albacete. The purpose of this exercise was to showcase the technological capabilities that Spain has developed in the context of European and Spanish initiatives, in a training environment. It also demonstrated the potential for creating a national system that integrates multiple unmanned platforms into a single command and control (C2) system, thereby reducing the need to have separate command personnel for each platform.

The demonstration took place as part of the opportunity that MALE offered to companies in association with the MILEX 2023 exercise, and its main focus was the C2 system that GMV has developed during the Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) project. This is an R&D program based on permanent structured cooperation (PESCO), co‑funded by the European Union, which has the primary objective of increasing the EU’s defense capabilities and strategic autonomy. The project’s mission is to develop the standard European unmanned ground system (UGS), by integrating robotics systems into the technologies that European defense forces already have available for manned vehicles. At the technical level, the iMUGS project has developed a scalable architecture and design, suitable for application in manned and unmanned ground and aerial vehicles, with the aim of standardizing European systems and their subsystems for command and control, communications, sensing, payload management, and autonomy algorithms.

During the exercise, the C2 system that GMV has developed for unmanned vehicles during the iMUGS project was used with the following platforms:

ALANO (Sener/Einsa)

THeMIS EVO-1 (with the OTEOS camera from Escribano)

Three Tizona VTOL drones in swarming mode (from Swarming TS)

GMV has been responsible for coordinating the command and control and C4ISR interoperability subproject, where it has developed a C2ISR system to manage UxVs. That system is capable of planning and executing joint operations between manned and unmanned systems. It also allows control of the payloads installed on the platform, along with use and distribution of data from the UGV’s data sensors, as a way to ensure interoperability and standardization of interfaces with C2 systems, C4I databases, and existing ISR networks.

GMV’s participation in the iMUGS project is based on the company’s acquired experience with C2 ground systems, C2 combatant systems, and joint ISR (JISR) interoperability, all of which are areas where GMV is one of the leading companies in Europe. GMV is the Spanish Ministry of Defense’s preferred supplier of command and control systems for artillery and infantry, and since 2016 it has been responsible for maintenance and evolution of the EUCCIS C2 system for the European External Action Service (EEAS).