Battlefield robots are to be built in the UK for the first time as part of a plan to triple Britain’s frontline combat power. It follows revelations that a leading German tech firm is building a new facility in England to develop unmanned armoured vehicles for the Army. Britain and Germany signed a seminal Trinity House Agreement in October to identify “opportunities for industrial collaboration and investment to achieve closer working on countering threats”.

With the number of army troops at its smallest since Napoleon began to conquer Europe 230 years ago, the reliance on autonomous and semi-autonomous systems is uppermost in the minds of military planners, with around 10% of the defence budget dedicated to this capability.

Now ARX Robotics will build the first facility of its kind in the UK to manufacture drones that can be used for reconnaissance, casualty evacuation and transport.

The start-up was founded in Munich only four years ago, and is already combat-testing 30 of its custom-built Gereon RCS land drones in Ukraine, after they were gifted to Volodymyr Zelensky by Berlin.

Measuring roughly 4ft 6ins by 4 ft 3ins and able to carry loads up to half a ton, the battle bots can be controlled using a tablet as far as 25 miles from the frontlines for 72 hours at a time.

And because they are designed to be modular, they can be taken apart and upgraded piece by piece, saving the cost of developing new platforms in years to come.

But ARX’s unique Mithra AI-powered operating system could also eventually be used to convert existing manned British Army vehicles to autonomous ones.

These may include the armed and agile Jackal patrol vehicle to even the heavier tracked Ajax armoured fighting vehicle

The controversial £5.5bn Ajax project has been criticised for late delivery and excessive vibration and noise, with more than 300 soldiers being assessed for hearing damage. Making it autonomous would mitigate these issues.

ARX has also announced a potential tie-in with German automotive giant Daimler.

Its new facility in the south west of England will cost £45m, create 90 jobs in the next two-and-a-half years and produce 1,800 land drones each year.

Military commanders have been calling for the Ministry of Defence to embrace the potential for autonomous platforms and Ai for years.

In 2020 Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who headed Joint Forces Command until 2016, predicted “the most profound change for 150 years” was needed for the Army to ensure that robotics, autonomous weapons and Artificial Intelligence took centre stage in military policy.

And two years ago the UK’s top military Artificial Intelligence chief told the government to give the Armed Forces the tools it needs to stay ahead in the race to lead AI “war research”.

“While humans cannot be everywhere, technology can be,” said Air Commodore David Rowland, Chief of the Artificial Defence Centre.

“We face an epoch of unprecedented change. As our adversaries increasingly employ these technologies, so must we.”

Now, under Project Asgard, the MoD wants to use autonomous systems to triple the Army’s capabilities on the ground.

Defence secretary John Healey said: “ARX is driving defence-tech innovation and I warmly welcome their £45 million investment into the UK, which will create highly skilled jobs and support European security.

“With our commitment to spend 2.5 per cent GDP on defence in 2027, this government is determined to make the UK a defence industrial superpower – supporting good jobs and driving growth as part of the Plan for Change.”