Ground drones with air defence turret: Mangart 25 AD on MV-8 Komodo celebrates world premiere at SIDEC

A novelty from the field of ground drones was on show at the Slovenian defence exhibition SIDEC: Valhalla Turrets and Croatian robotics manufacturer Dok-ing presented their new unmanned ground combat system there for the first time worldwide. It consists of the remotely operated Mangart 25 AD turret mounted on the MV-8 Komodo unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).

According to the manufacturers, the system combines “precision, reliability and intelligent defence” and is a further development step towards autonomous combat vehicles.

The Mangart 25 AD is armed with the 25-millimetre KBA automatic cannon from Rheinmetall and with MBDA SADM missiles. Added to this are a Hensoldt Spexer AESA radar and the Paseo optical targeting system from Safran. The vehicle can be used against air and ground targets; 400 rounds of 25×137-millimetre ready ammunition are available.

Ground drone platform from mine clearance

According to Doki-ing, the MV-8 Komodo unmanned carrier vehicle impresses “with high off-road mobility and survivability”. It was initially developed for engineering and mine-clearance tasks; it has since been adapted to military applications such as protecting forward bases and securing threatened routes.

Integrating the Mangart 25 AD creates a modular system. Doki-ing sees it as “a new force in modern defence” – with the firepower of crewed systems but without risk to a crew.

At the exhibition, Valhalla and Doki-ing announced that they are examining export options and further variants.