Diehl Defence, the German defense contractor, drew attention at the Enforce Tac trade show with a compact unmanned ground vehicle designed to keep pace with infantry and haul supplies through hostile terrain. The Ziesel UGV, fitted with a software suite called the PLATON autonomy kit, reflects a wider push by European defense firms to field robotic platforms that can resupply troops, support casualty evacuation, and scout ahead without putting a human driver at risk. Some trade-show chatter has floated much higher “robot truck” speed figures, but primary sources do not confirm a 62 mph top speed for the Ziesel. As NATO allies accelerate interest in autonomous systems for contested battlefields, the Ziesel and rival platforms are forcing a practical question: can small unmanned carriers meaningfully change how infantry moves and survives?
Ziesel UGV Specs and Battlefield Role
The Ziesel is built small enough to move alongside dismounted soldiers yet strong enough to carry meaningful cargo. Diehl Defence describes the vehicle as measuring 1.6 x 1.3 m. Publicly available materials in the links below clearly detail payload figures for Milrem’s THeMIS, but do not provide the same level of confirmed weight-and-payload specification for the Ziesel in this draft, so specific Ziesel curb-weight and maximum-payload numbers should be treated cautiously unless Diehl publishes them. Those dimensions make it roughly the size of a large riding mower, compact enough to fit through doorways and narrow trails that would block a conventional logistics truck. Power comes from exchangeable lithium-ion battery packs, a design choice that lets crews swap drained batteries in the field instead of waiting hours for a recharge and reduces downtime during high-tempo operations.
The PLATON autonomy kit is a key differentiator highlighted by Diehl. The system is presented as enabling functions such as follow-me behavior and navigation to waypoints, potentially reducing cognitive load on small units already juggling radios, weapons, and situational awareness. Diehl Defence presents the platform as intended for use with infantry, which suggests roles like ammunition resupply, water delivery, and casualty evacuation in close urban or wooded terrain where wheeled vehicles struggle and where sending a manned truck forward can get drivers killed. The tracked chassis gives the Ziesel traction on soft ground, snow, and rubble that would stop a wheeled robot of similar size, and its low profile makes it easier to conceal behind walls or terrain features while it shuttles gear to the front line.
How the THeMIS Compares on Payload and Speed
The Ziesel enters a market where Milrem Robotics, an Estonian firm, has already fielded one of the most widely tested competitors. The THeMIS unmanned ground vehicle family carries a rated payload of 750 kg and can handle a maximum payload of 1,200 kg in certain configurations, giving it substantially more carrying capacity than the smaller German platform. Its maximum speed reaches 20 km/h, roughly 12 mph, which is fast enough to keep up with walking or jogging soldiers but far slower than the unverified 62 mph figure sometimes mentioned in trade-show chatter about high-speed UGV concepts. That speed gap matters: a platform that can sprint between cover at highway velocity could, in theory, retrieve a wounded soldier from an exposed position in seconds rather than minutes, though independent verification of any such top speed for the Ziesel beyond controlled demonstrations remains unavailable in primary sources and should be treated cautiously.
Where the THeMIS has a clear edge is in operational maturity. The platform supports remote operation as well as autonomous functions including waypoint navigation and follow-me modes, and it has been repeatedly demonstrated with different mission payloads such as weapon stations, sensors, and engineering tools. It has also passed formal air transportability tests, confirming it can be loaded aboard military transport aircraft and moved rapidly into a theater of operations, which is a key requirement for expeditionary forces that redeploy on short notice. That kind of logistical flexibility is hard to replicate and gives armed forces confidence that the robot can actually reach the fight, not just perform well on a demo course. Diehl Defence has not published equivalent air transport certification data for the Ziesel, leaving a gap in its operational case that will matter to planners who must integrate the vehicle into existing airlift and deployment concepts.
Why Speed and Autonomy Change Casualty Evacuation
The traditional approach to battlefield casualty evacuation relies on armored ambulances or, in extreme cases, fellow soldiers dragging the wounded to cover under fire. Both options are slow and dangerous, exposing medics and riflemen alike to enemy fire and improvised explosive devices. A robotic platform that can drive itself to a casualty’s GPS coordinates, accept a stretcher, and return to a medical station without exposing a driver would cut one of the deadliest links in the chain. The Ziesel’s small footprint and tracked mobility suggest it could reach places an armored ambulance cannot, such as narrow alleyways, stair ramps, or forest paths, while the THeMIS family’s higher rated payload of 750 kg means it could carry a casualty plus medical equipment, extra armor, or even multiple stretchers in a single trip if configured correctly.
The catch is that autonomy in a combat zone is not the same as autonomy on a trade show floor. GPS signals can be jammed or spoofed, forcing robots to rely on inertial navigation and local sensors that may be degraded by smoke, dust, and debris. Visual and lidar-based perception systems can struggle with low visibility, blown-out lighting, or cluttered environments full of moving friendlies and enemies. Soldiers under fire may not have time to program waypoints or troubleshoot a frozen interface, and any delay in responding to commands could mean the difference between life and death for a wounded comrade. Both the PLATON kit and the THeMIS autonomy stack will need to prove they can handle degraded conditions, maintain reliable communications links, and avoid fratricide or collisions before any military planner trusts them with a wounded soldier’s life. The technology is promising, but the gap between a controlled demonstration and a real firefight is where most robotic platforms fail.
Europe’s Wider Push for Ground Robots
The Ziesel and THeMIS are part of a broader European effort to field unmanned ground vehicles at the squad and platoon level, reflecting lessons from recent conflicts about the vulnerability of logistics and the limits of manpower. Small units need organic logistics support that does not require additional personnel to operate, because every soldier assigned to drive a resupply truck is one fewer rifle in the fight and every manned vehicle in a convoy is a potential casualty. Autonomous cargo carriers promise to break that tradeoff by letting a single operator manage multiple robots or by eliminating the operator entirely through follow-me and waypoint modes, effectively adding mechanical “porters” to infantry formations without increasing headcount.
Milrem says the THeMIS has passed air transportability tests, and interest in unmanned logistics platforms has grown across NATO, with Germany, Estonia, and several other alliance members funding trials for both national forces and multinational battlegroups. The Enforce Tac demonstration of the Ziesel with PLATON fits that pattern, showcasing a concept tailored to German infantry needs, while the THeMIS has already been tested by multiple NATO nations in different climates and terrain types, from training areas in northern Europe to more arid environments. For infantry commanders, the deciding factors will likely come down to reliability under fire, ease of maintenance in the field, and whether the robots can actually keep up with soldiers moving through complex terrain at unpredictable speeds. Procurement officials will also weigh industrial considerations, such as domestic production lines, technology transfer, and long-term software support, which can tip the balance between competing UGV families even when raw performance metrics are similar.
What Still Needs Proving
Despite the enthusiasm around unmanned ground vehicles, several critical questions remain unanswered for both the Ziesel and the THeMIS. One is survivability: neither platform is heavily armored in its base configuration, which keeps weight and cost down but raises concerns about how they will fare against small-arms fire, shrapnel, and mines. Another is cyber resilience, since any networked robot is a potential target for jamming, hacking, or data exfiltration, and armed forces will demand robust safeguards before tying frontline logistics to autonomous systems. There is also the issue of doctrine: integrating robots into existing tactics, techniques, and procedures requires training, revised rules of engagement, and clear guidance on who is responsible when an autonomous system malfunctions or causes collateral damage.
For Diehl Defence, the path forward will involve turning the eye-catching Enforce Tac display into a documented track record of field trials, user feedback, and incremental improvements to the PLATON autonomy kit and the Ziesel chassis. For Milrem Robotics, the challenge is to build on the THeMIS family’s operational head start by demonstrating reliability over long deployments, simplifying maintenance for conscript-heavy forces, and proving that the platform’s payload and autonomy justify its logistical footprint. Both companies operate in a European defense landscape that is increasingly open to unmanned systems but still cautious about overpromising on AI-enabled autonomy. Until these vehicles log thousands of hours alongside real infantry units in harsh conditions, they will be seen less as replacements for traditional logistics and casualty evacuation and more as experimental force multipliers whose full impact on how infantry fights and survives is still being written.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
