IDV brings latest generation VIKING UGV to DVD 2026

Millbrook, Bedfordshire, 17 September 2026 – IDV, a Leonardo company, will bring the latest generation of its VIKING Uncrewed Ground Vehicle (UGV) to DVD 2026 in two advanced configurations, demonstrating how a common platform can deliver different battlefield capabilities. One vehicle, displayed on the IDV stand, will be equipped with precision effectors, while a second vehicle, showcased on the Leonardo stand opposite, will demonstrate an advanced electronic warfare capability. Together, these configurations highlight the versatility of the VIKING platform and its ability to support a wide range of missions through a common vehicle architecture. This adaptability is enabled by the platform’s capacity to integrate advanced payloads, generate and distribute significant electrical power, and operate in both silent mobility and silent watch modes.

The latest-generation VIKING incorporates a number of technical enhancements, delivering improved range, greater usability and enhanced uncrewed capability. Its electric-only range has been extended to up to 30 km, increasing operational flexibility while reducing acoustic and thermal signatures. Designed for rapid deployment, VIKING can be transported inside a Chinook helicopter or carried as an underslung load. The platform can also move under its own power or be towed, providing commanders with a deployable asset that can accompany the force, operate wherever required and remain under direct tactical control.

Geoff Davis, Managing Director of IDV UK, said: “As demand for uncrewed capabilities accelerates across NATO, platforms such as VIKING are becoming an essential element of modern land operations. By enhancing force protection, increasing operational effectiveness and reducing the burden on personnel, uncrewed technologies are proving to be a true force multiplier, particularly through their ability to integrate increasingly advanced payloads and mission systems. VIKING embodies this approach, offering a flexible and scalable platform that can be configured for a wide range of roles, from ISTAR, electronic warfare, counter-UAS and precision effects to logistics and casualty evacuation. As part of the Leonardo Group, IDV is uniquely positioned to accelerate innovation in this field by combining its vehicle engineering expertise with Leonardo’s leadership in advanced electronics, sensors, mission systems and defence technologies.”

VIKING is developed and produced in the UK at IDV UK’s facility at MIRA Technology Park in Nuneaton, drawing on a British supply chain and more than a decade of trials alongside armed forces in the UK, Europe and the United States. Initial orders have been placed by allied armies.

The VIKING on the Leonardo stand fitted with Leonardo’s Guardian Vantage electronic warfare and signals intelligence system, with a Guardian Shield unit carried as a portable element the vehicle can drop off and leave in place. Together they listen passively for transmissions, identify threats, find their direction and, when required, jam them. Because the listening is passive, the vehicle can do it without revealing itself. Active jamming reveals the emitter in a way that passive listening does not, so the same logic applies as on the IDV stand: VIKING can jam from a position away from the troops it is supporting and then move on, a jam and scoot equivalent of the launcher’s shoot and scoot.

Guardian Vantage and Guardian Shield are designed in the UK and manufactured in Leonardo’s plant in Basildon. Both systems incorporate components and software from British small and medium-sized enterprises and carry no ITAR restrictions. These payloads can operate from a variety of platforms, but to exploit Guardian Vantage’s full potential on an uncrewed vehicle requires a capable UGV with the power generation, communications architecture, mast capacity and onboard systems needed for independent operation. The EW payload shows why understanding the different capabilities of UGVs is important: a logistics-focused vehicle is unlikely to have the power delivery to support this capability at all, or for long enough to be useful. VIKING’s series hybrid runs the payload from its battery with the engine off, taking the vehicle’s thermal and noise signature to near zero while it listens.

Alongside VIKING, the IDV stand features the MUV Military Utility Vehicle in ambulance configuration. A 4×4 with a gross vehicle weight of up to seven tonnes and a four-tonne payload, the MUV is IDV’s new generation of light logistics vehicle, building on the M40E15-WM that sold more than 18,000 units worldwide. Permanent four-wheel drive, lockable differentials and independent front suspension give it the off-road mobility to move casualties, stores and people across rough ground, and the same chassis is available as cargo carrier, troop transport, pick-up, command post and van, with shared components keeping the logistic footprint small across a mixed fleet.

In the dynamic display area, the 8×8 protected logistics truck represents IDV’s Modular Military Range, a family of tactical and logistic trucks from 4×4 to 10×10 built on a common chassis with interchangeable tactical, logistic and protected cabs, the latter offering ballistic, mine, IED and CBRN protection. With gross vehicle weights from 18 to 40 tonnes, central tyre inflation, fording to 1.5 metres and air transportability, the range draws on tens of thousands of IDV trucks already in service with armed forces around the world and is compliant with the latest European general safety regulations.

With a fleet designed to meet the toughest demands of both on-road and off-road operations, IDV is gaining increasing ground and recognition in the most strategically important markets on the continent. Today IDV vehicles are operational in some of the most critical theatres worldwide. Designed to adapt to any mission profile and payload requirement, the Modular Military Range reflects IDV’s commitment to maximum performance, adaptability and mission readiness. Whether responding to humanitarian crises, supporting peacekeeping missions, or sustaining front-line operations, IDV delivers tactical mobility solutions that perform at the highest global standards.

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