Norway and Sweden have carried out a joint trial in which unmanned ground vehicles and drones cooperated in a remotely operated operation. The trial was conducted to test the technology and identify the limitations and possibilities of the systems.
The trial involved the Norwegian Army's Combat Lab and the Swedish Army, together with research communities from the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). Observers from Finland, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands also took part.
The scenario involved a group of unmanned ground vehicles making their way through enemy lines, supported by reconnaissance and attack drones tasked with detecting and engaging threats along the way. Eight ground vehicles were remotely controlled simultaneously from a command post, while FFI's drone researchers acted as the opposing force, among other things using a drone swarm that dropped tennis balls to simulate engagement.
"The scenario is just a framework for testing the technology. The goal was to fail, to learn, and to discover weaknesses, limitations and possibilities of the unmanned systems, both technically and conceptually," says Kim Mathiassen, research director for manoeuvre and robotics at FFI.
The trial covered, among other things, the operators' workload and situational awareness, communication between operators and vehicles, and the transfer of observations from drones and ground vehicles to the command and control system. Jamming of communications, however, was not part of the trial.
According to Sven Bjerke at FFI, the informal international cooperation is one of the main points of the trial. He notes that Norway, Sweden and Finland are working on similar problems and share conditions such as topography and winter climate.
On 18 September, the Norwegian Army will present its new concept for unmanned systems during an industry day at Akershus Fortress (near Oslo, Norway), the day after Army Summit 2026.