On 20 November 2025, DG DEFIS hosted the official kick-off meeting of the iMUGS2 consortium. Selected under the 2024 European Defence Fund (EDF) calls for proposals, the project will benefit from nearly €50 million in EDF funding to advance Europe’s capabilities in unmanned ground systems.
Developing unmanned systems in the EU are among the top priorities identified in the White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030. They represent one of the most significant military innovations of recent years. Russia’s war against Ukraine has shown the rapid proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their decisive impact on modern warfare. Their operational relevance continues to grow across land, air and sea domains.
While unmanned systems have made significant strides in air and sea, the land domain remains particularly challenging due to complex terrain and operational constraints. This is why the deployment of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) is still limited. iMUGS2 directly addresses these gaps by building on the success of its predecessor, the first iMUGS project funded under the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP).
The project will strengthen Europe’s robotics capabilities by developing a scalable, interoperable and secure system-of-systems architecture for both unmanned and manned platforms. It will be specifically designed to overcome operational limitations in complex environments. Key technological advancements will include AI-enabled autonomy, systems integration, resilient communications, and enhanced command-and-control functionalities.
The consortium has levelled up its ambition compared to the first iMUGS prototype. Under the coordination of Milrem Robotics, it now brings together 29 beneficiaries, including large industrial players, mid-sized companies, SMEs and research organisations, reflecting Europe’s growing ambition in this field.
iMUGS2 is also expected to deliver substantial impact by reinforcing the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and contributing to the EU’s strategic autonomy and defence readiness through a fully European solution.
Next steps
The consortium will now launch extensive conceptual, operational and technical development work across multiple domains. This includes designing and refining operational concepts, system architectures, autonomous capabilities, secure communications, and electronic protection measures, all essential for next-generation manned–unmanned teaming.
About the European Defence Fund
Since the EDF’s launch, the European Commission has invested close to €6.5 billion in defence research and development, positioning the EU among the world’s leading defence investors. The Fund has a total budget of nearly €7.3 billion for the 2021–2027 period.
As part of EDF Work Programme 2024 (€1.1 billion), € 130 million were attributed to calls related to land defence:
- Intelligent weaponry and ammunition systems
- Multipurpose unmanned ground systems
- Beyond the line-of-sight close combat
- Next generation armoured infantry fighting vehicle
