COMMANDS: Convoy Operations with Manned-unMANneD Systems (EDF-2021)

COMMANDS will develop capabilities for agile, intelligent and cooperative manned and unmanned land systems.

  • EDF Project Call: Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technologies (Fleet Upgrade and Close Combat)
  • Duration: 36 Months (December 2022 - November 2025)
  • Total Budget: €26.8M
  • VRCEU is the COMMANDS Technical Coordinator.

COMMAND aims at:

  • Developing Through Life Capabilities (TLC) for agile, intelligent and cooperative manned and unmanned land systems. The results will not only enable to upgrade current ground vehicles of the EU inventory for specific missions, but also to be integrated in future vehicles in development.
  • Providing the European Armed Forces with a system of systems capable of ensuring trusted and effective co-operation between different manned and unmanned assets.
  • Contributing to the reduction of operational risks by enhancing the information superiority and manoeuvring capabilities of the European Armed Forces in accordance with the highest ethical standards.

Project Objective

The COMMANDS project aims to develop Through Life Capabilities (TLC) for agile, intelligent and cooperative Manned and Unmanned Land Systems. These Capabilities will be based on a variety of state-of-the-art UGV Technologies solutions that will provide seamless functional services across integrated modular open architectures.

The answer to the UGVT call is based on a solid Systems Engineering process supported by a Technology Demonstrator and a Business Case, that will ensure early de-risking as well as potential early exploitation of technologies directly addressing a roadmap of self-reliant EU Defence TLC sustainable development.

The results will not only enable to upgrade current ground vehicles of the EU inventory for specific missions, but also to be integrated in future vehicles in development.

COMMANDS addresses the requirement of military unmanned ground vehicles to operate not only in controlled paved surfaces, but also in unstructured environments, facing degraded or denied satellite signal and communications scenarios where the development of Computer Based Processing Technologies, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence provide game changing Intelligent Capabilities.

The Technology Demonstrator Programme includes both a laboratory demonstrator and a real scenario Mobile Demonstrator centered around the used case of a Last Kilometre Re-supply Convoy with Force Protection.

The COMMANDS approach challenges the current state-of-the-art technology insertion, providing more efficient and effective cooperative intelligent behaviour and human-centred ethically aligned services in different Operational States and Environments, complementing manned-unmanned teaming.

The proposal is developed in the context of PESCO project iUGS, and strongly aligned with the EU Ground Combat Capability Development Plan.