--- title: "NATO Just Deployed Its First Killer Ground Robot" description: "The Netherlands have deployed armed ground drones, marking the first time that an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) has been utilized by a NATO country." date: "2022-10-19" modified: "2022-10-19" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nato-deployed-first-killer-robot" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "military" - "nato" - "the digest" - "ugv" --- # NATO Just Deployed Its First Killer Ground Robot ![The Netherlands have deployed armed ground drones, marking the first time that an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) has been utilized by a NATO country.]() *\Image: Milrem Robots/Royal Netherlands Army\* ## THeMIS The Netherlands [has deployed]() several armed and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), making it the first NATO country to do so — setting an alarming precedent for the use of killer robots on the battlefield by the West. As [*Vice* reports](), the [AI-powered robots]() dubbed the Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry Systems (THeMIS) were developed by Estonian defense company Milrem Robotics and were dispatched to Lithuania on September 12. Armed with tank treads, they can host a number of different weapons. Pictures [published by the Dutch military]() show the tank-like machines outfitted with machine guns. "We have deployed four weaponized \[unmanned\] machines within an operational experiment," lieutenant colonel Sjoerd Mevissen, commander of the Royal Netherlands Army's Robotics and Autonomous System, [told defense outlet *Janes*](). "To my knowledge, we have not seen this before in the West." "The machines have been handed over for experimental use in an operational unit in a military-relevant environment," he added. "These are not simply tests on a training ground." ## Making Moves Sending the bots to Lithuania isn't exactly a subtle — or comforting — move. The Eastern European nation borders Russia and isn't far from the front lines in NATO-supported Ukraine. In other words, it's a "military-relevant environment." "We are under the direct eyes and ears of the Russians," Mevissen said in the statement, "and as such in a semi-operational environment.” ## New Dawn Though this might be NATO's first official deployment of UGVs, they're not the first ones to be deployed. As *Vice* points out, the Russian Ministry of Defense put what amounts to [a bigger version of THeMIS]() on the ground in Syria back in 2018, and Iran's previously shown off a [smaller version]() of the same vehicle. That being said, it's not like NATO — and the US specifically — are strangers to autonomous, AI-equipped [flying drones](). And while the Dutch military insists that the THeMIS tanks are still experimental, their NATO deployment is a big deal — and may further cement the onset of a [new era in military technology](). **READ MORE:** *[The Netherlands Has Deployed NATO’s First Killer Robot Ground Vehicles]()* \[*Vice*\] **More on next-gen military drones:** *[China Shows off Drone That Drops Robodog with Huge Gun Anywhere]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()