TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Two top Israeli defense majors have been developing
unmanned ground vehicles for militaries and security forces.
G-inus, a joint venture of the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries
and Elbit Systems, has been developing a range of UGVs. Executives said the
company was developing UGV configurations for specific missions.
So far, the company has developed four prototypes of the Guardium UGV.
The Guardium was meant for border patrol missions, particularly along the
Gaza Strip.
Guardium, based on the Tomcar military vehicle, was described as an
autonomous vehicle, equipped with sensors and navigation systems. In
November 2007, the vehicle reached the semi-finals in Urban Challenge,
staged by the U.S. Defense Department's Defense Advanced Research Projects.
The Israel Army has also examined Guardium, with an operational speed of
60 kilometers, as an unmanned infantry fighting vehicle. Elbit Systems and
IAI have designed the UGV to accommodate a machine gun.
Executives said the four UGV prototypes of Guardium would be operational
by mid-2008. They said the UGVs were designed to communicate with a command
and control center as well as with other vehicles.