First Army Trials Of PIAP HUNTeR UGV
In early July the first trials of the Polish Unmanned Ground Vehicle PIAP HUNTeR took place at Field Experimentation Exercises (FEX) in Nowa Dęba. The vehicle is a development of Łukasiewicz Research Network. This high-mobility wheeled platform is designed as a response to the demand for multi-terrain unmanned ground vehicles which can serve as rapid-response vehicles. Such concept of a Future Task Force was announced in late 2021 by the Polish Armed Forces which enabled a test unit within the 18th Mechanized Division.
HUNTeR can be used as an autonomous or man-operated UGV. The electric motor used to power the vehicle, along with a 110kW generator, enables it to travel at speeds reaching 50km/h, depending on the variant used.
The HUNTeR tested at FEX in Nowa Dęba was equipped with remotely controlled AREX’s GUNMATE ZMU-03 system utilizing a 12.7mm M2HB heavy machine gun, thermal camera, and observation device and in addition can be equipped with a small UAV platform such as X-FRONTER. During the trial the vehicle was cooperating with various other vehicles such as IFV Wolverine while testing its combat capacities and possibilities of real-time assistance of troops on the ground.
For the HUNTeR it is only the beginning of testing and development as the platform has the potential to be used for a multitude of tasks. After the integration of WB U-Gate Augmented Reality End User Device with the platform HUNTeR gained extensive observation and reconnaissance capability. It remains to be seen whether such a vehicle equipped with the ZMU-03 system could be integrated with anti-tank weapons, either ATGM or loitering munitions controlled by vehicle operators. Nonetheless, HUNTeR shows great potential as a support role vehicle dedicated to a variety of combat and non-combat tasks.