Leonardo’s IDV unveils uncrewed light tank at Eurosatory

The Leonardo-owned vehicle maker IDV has used the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris to unveil a new uncrewed light tank designed to fight alongside crewed armour, the company has said.

The vehicle, designated the CL2X and described as a hybrid uncrewed light tank, makes its public debut at the show alongside an upgraded version of IDV’s existing VIKING uncrewed ground vehicle and a live simulation of how fleets of robotic vehicles would be folded into battlefield command and control. IDV is displaying the systems on its stand at Eurosatory, one of the largest defence events in the world, which opened this week.

The CL2X is a tracked autonomous combat platform built around a series hybrid powertrain, pairing electric drive with a range-extender unit that recharges the batteries, an arrangement that, combined with rubber tracks, allows the vehicle to run part of a mission silently to reduce its noise signature and the risk of detection. The vehicle has a gross weight of 16 tonnes, a payload of up to five tonnes, a top speed of 70 kilometres per hour and a range of up to 500 kilometres, of which around 30 kilometres can be covered in silent mode.

In the configuration shown at the exhibition, the CL2X is fitted with a Leonardo HITFIST 30 UL uncrewed turret carrying a 30-millimetre cannon with air-burst munitions, and is intended to act as a wingman to main battle tanks, providing fire support and able to engage drones as well as ground targets. The concept sits within what the industry calls Manned-Unmanned Teaming, in which a single crewed command vehicle coordinates several robotic combat vehicles, allowing a small command team to direct a much larger force and keeping crewed assets further from the most dangerous tasks.

The upgraded VIKING, a six-wheeled multirole uncrewed vehicle, is making its international debut at the show in two configurations with an improved powertrain, an electric-only range increased to 30 kilometres, and a new mast-mounted electro-optical sensor suite that lets the vehicle observe while remaining concealed. One version carries Leonardo’s Hitrole counter-drone weapon station, built around a 30-millimetre gun able to programme smart fuses against aerial threats, while the other mounts a ground-launched precision missile system carrying three missiles for a fire-and-forget anti-armour capability against high-value targets.

The IDV chief executive, Claudio Catalano, said modern warfare was evolving rapidly, with threats such as drones and roadside bombs making the battlefield increasingly dangerous for soldiers. In that environment, he said, uncrewed systems were “no longer optional, they are essential”, and Western armed forces were no longer treating uncrewed ground vehicles as a future aspiration but as “an indispensable component of near-term land capabilities”. Requirements across NATO, he said, were “accelerating with real urgency”, and IDV saw the vehicles as “a decisive step forward” offering a cost-effectiveness and operational advantage that traditional crewed systems could no longer match.

Alongside the new platforms, IDV is promoting its MACE autonomy software and ATLAS navigation system, which works in environments where satellite positioning is jammed or denied, both designed to be retrofitted to existing vehicles as well as built into new ones. The company says it has already demonstrated the approach on its in-service LMV light vehicles and trucks, offering armed forces a route to add uncrewed capability to platforms they already operate rather than buying entirely new fleets.