Norwegian company UGV Defence ran its FLEX L12 heavy unmanned ground vehicle through a 1.7-kilometer off-road course in fully autonomous mode while hauling 5 metric tons of cargo, in a demonstration held October 29 at Camp Rødsmoen in Norway. About 100 attendees, mostly from the Norwegian and Swedish armed forces, watched the run alongside industrial partners including Kongsberg and BAE Systems.
The FLEX L12 comes in two configurations. The L12-L cargo variant is rated for up to 12 metric tons of payload. The L12-P power-generation variant trades some cargo space for a larger onboard battery, carrying up to 9 tons while doubling as mobile power supply. Both run on a diesel-electric powertrain, top out around 25 km/h and carry a stated range of up to 800 kilometers — figures aimed squarely at sustaining dispersed military units over multi-day operations rather than short tactical dashes.
Built for logistics, with a military option on the table
The version shown at Rødsmoen was a civilian-rated configuration, operable from an onboard cabin as well as autonomously. UGV Defence has said a fully militarized version, including potential weapons integration, remains under development rather than ready for deployment. That's a notably different path than Ukrainian UGV programs, which have gone straight to armed and front-line logistics roles under combat pressure. UGV Defence's software lets up to 15 FLEX platforms link into a single autonomous convoy using a master-slave control scheme, with centimeter-level navigation accuracy. Operators can run the vehicles over a Starlink terminal, a direct radio link, or let them drive themselves — a flexibility aimed at NATO forces operating across contested or satellite-denied terrain.
A platform strategy, not just a vehicle
UGV Defence is positioning the FLEX L12 as the chassis for a broader ecosystem it calls the Nordic Autonomous Mission Platform. Partner companies building equipment around the base vehicle include Kongsberg and BAE Systems on the defense-industrial side, Swedish sideloader maker Hammar, and specialist firms Safe-Tec, SKJOLDR and Nordic Shelter. That mirrors how established players like Milrem Robotics' THeMIS and the U.S. Army's broader UGV efforts have tried to build modular families of ground robots rather than single-purpose vehicles, but the FLEX L12 is considerably larger than most fielded UGVs, which typically top out well under a ton of payload.
The bet is that heavy, long-range, semi-autonomous logistics vehicles will matter more to NATO's northern flank than lighter reconnaissance robots, given the terrain and distances involved in Nordic defense planning. Norway and Sweden have both increased defense procurement focused on autonomous systems following years of watching UGVs prove their worth evacuating supplies and casualties in Ukraine. Whether the FLEX L12 secures a procurement contract will likely depend on how it performs in harsher terrain and weather than the Rødsmoen demo, and on how quickly UGV Defence can deliver the militarized variant the Nordic armed forces will actually need to field it near a front line.
Details of the demonstration were first reported by Defence Blog.