German military vehicle specialist Rheinmetall Defence has been given the lead in a $5.6 million project to develop unmanned vehicles for the European Defense Agency.

Rheinmetall will head up the project with Germany's Diehl BGT Defence, France's ECA and France's Thales Optronique also involved. The contract calls for the construction of a demonstration version of an unmanned ground craft. Trials are expected to be conducted in 2013.

The device is seen as a way to protect troops taking part in hazardous operations, a release from Rheinmetall stated.

"Nations taking part in international peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions are understandably eager to keep casualties as low as possible to avoid losing public support at home," Rheinmetall said. "One way of meeting this challenge is to use unmanned systems which operate autonomously and can perform a variety of missions, making sure that friendly personnel are not exposed to danger unnecessarily."

The program is referred as Semi-Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle System Demonstrator. Initial specifications call for a wheeled, all-terrain vehicle weighing between 660 and 880 pounds.

The device would be operated remotely or autonomously though a built-in satellite-supported navigation system. It would operate for up to 24 hours and have a range of 240 miles. Additionally, planned 3-D laser radar, camera systems and ultrasonic sensors would aid the vehicle to avoid obstacles and other hindrances in its surroundings.

The SAM-UGV is also seen as having the potential to carry out reconnaissance missions in areas subject to nuclear, chemical or biological contamination.

"The system's suitability as a means of searching for improvised explosive devices will also be studied, responding to the acute threat these currently pose to forces deployed in global conflict zones," the Rheinmetall release said.

The need for such unmanned vehicles is seen as growing for theaters such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where traditional military strategies are proving less effective.

Rheinmetall said that cost pressures would make the development of a sophisticated system such as the SAM-UGV "all but impossible for a single, company-financed research and development program." But since the four companies are working together, with the European Defense Agency arranging financial backing "this project is a good example of the way the European defense industry is bundling its strengths -- one of EDA's prime objectives."

News of Rheinmetall's involvement in the SAM-UGV contract came a week after the company said the German military ordered 405 Puma infantry fighting vehicles from the company's 50-50 PSM GmbH partnership with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH and Co. KG. That deal is worth $4.3 billion.