Estonia's former chief of defense joins Milrem Robotics

Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian defense forces until the end of June 2024, is joining the team of Milrem Robotics. Photo: Sander Ilvest

Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian defense forces until the end of June 2024, is joining the team of Milrem Robotics, a global leader in the development of robotics and autonomous systems.

The retired general will join the company as a military strategy advisor starting in August. His role will be to incorporate end-user feedback and needs into the development of ground robotics. In particular, Herem will assess the use of ground robotics in Ukraine, identify lessons and areas for improvement, and lead the implementation of these insights in product development and the development of military concepts, Milrem Robotics said in a press release.

Herem will also advise the company's management, business development and capability development units, providing them with the necessary input from a military user perspective.

«Milrem Robotics is introducing more and more land-based robots in different countries, and it is very important that this new capability fits in with and complements the existing defense capabilities,» said Kuldar Väärsi, CEO of Milrem Robotics.

Herem was the commander of the Estonian defense forces from December 2018 to the end of June 2024. Herem entered military service in 1992. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the chief of the Estonian Military Academy and from 2016 to 2018 as the chief of staff of the defense forces.

Milrem Robotics is a leading developer and system integrator of robotics and autonomous systems, with offices in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and the United States. The company is known for its unmanned ground vehicles Themis and Multiscope, the unmanned combat vehicle Type-X, and the autonomy kit MIFIK.

The company is also known for the successful completion of the iMUGS project under the European Defense Industrial Development Program (EDIDP), which focused on developing a modular and scalable architecture for unmanned systems.