UNEX UGV passes major test towing a 3.2 tonne howitzer

An unmanned robot the size of a small truck just proved it can drag an artillery piece across a battlefield while hauling more than a ton of extra cargo at the same time, a feat that could let front-line units cut the number of vehicles and soldiers needed for a single resupply run. ABRIS DG announced that its UNEX unmanned ground vehicle completed joint testing with a military unit, towing a D-30 howitzer weighing 3.2 tonnes while simultaneously carrying a 1.2 tonne payload of its own, all in a single field operation.

The D-30 is a Soviet-designed 122mm towed howitzer that has remained in active use by multiple militaries for decades, and towing a weapon that size typically requires a dedicated prime mover vehicle plus a separate crew responsible for driving it, leaving artillery units dependent on a chain of support vehicles and personnel just to relocate a single gun. UNEX is a Czech-Ukrainian designed amphibious robotic platform built on an electric drivetrain, powered by twin motors rated at 32.7 kilowatts each and drawing from lithium-ion batteries offering up to six hours of continuous operation, with a rated payload capacity of up to 1,700 kilograms (3,748 pounds) and a top speed of 20 kilometers per hour (12 miles per hour), controllable from more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.

A vehicle that can only tow heavy equipment still leaves a unit needing a second vehicle to carry ammunition, fuel, or other supplies to the same position, while a vehicle limited purely to carrying cargo cannot help relocate the howitzer itself once a firing position needs to change. By successfully doing both simultaneously, UNEX demonstrated the kind of consolidated logistics capability that lets a single unmanned platform replace what would otherwise require two separate vehicles and their accompanying drivers, a meaningful reduction in the number of personnel exposed to danger during resupply and repositioning missions near an active front line.

That combined mobility fits directly into UNEX’s broader design, which relies on a wide-tire chassis engineered to distribute the vehicle’s weight evenly enough that it exerts less ground pressure than a walking soldier, letting the platform cross muddy, uneven, or mined terrain that would be far riskier for a human crew or a conventional wheeled vehicle to traverse directly. ABRIS DG has demonstrated that low-pressure design in public showcases by driving the fully loaded platform over a ceramic plate and coffee cup without breaking either one, illustrating just how evenly the vehicle’s weight spreads across its tires even under a heavy load.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense formally codified the platform for service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, adopting it specifically for its amphibious capability and reduced ground pressure in combat and logistics roles across muddy, wet, and mine-contaminated terrain that has come to define much of the front line in that war.

The U.S. Army separately selected UNEX as one of five winning platforms in its XTech Edge Strike Ground Competition, a field trial the 2nd Cavalry Regiment hosted in Vilseck, Germany, in March, where the system beat out competitors drawn from an initial pool of 170 companies by demonstrating its ability to tow a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, a wheeled combat vehicle that typically weighs more than 6,000 kilograms (13,228 pounds) depending on configuration, while also launching first-person-view drones directly from the platform. That result gave ABRIS DG, working through its American partner Mountain Horse LLC, access to a 10-year contract vehicle on the U.S. Army’s Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate marketplace, a procurement pathway that lets Army units order the system directly rather than waiting for a separate, dedicated acquisition program.