During the 29th edition of Eurosatory 2026, the international defense industry exhibition organized by Coges Events and taking place on June 15–19 this year at Paris-Nord Villepinte near Paris, France’s KNDS France, part of the German-French joint venture KNDS, and S2M Equipment unveiled the REFURBOT unmanned ground vehicle technology demonstrator based on the AMX-30 tank chassis.
Photo: Jakub Link-Lenczowski, MILMAG
The designers used the chassis of a 36-tonne tank produced between 1966 and 1994 in a total of 3,571 units. It underwent a comprehensive upgrade and was integrated with the TOXO robotization package developed by KNDS France and S2M Equipment, which provides the platform’s autonomy and unmanned control system.
In addition, instead of the manned turret with the 105-mm Modèle F1 gun, the vehicle received an ARX-25 remotely controlled weapon station armed with the KNDS France 25M811 25-mm automatic cannon chambered for 25 mm x 137 ammunition and a coaxial 7.62-mm machine gun. The cannon is dual-feed, using armor-piercing/incendiary and high-explosive rounds, with an ammunition load of 280 rounds. It is stabilized, equipped with modern day/night and thermal sighting systems, and fully automated. This armament gives REFURBOT the ability to destroy light armored vehicles, aerial targets such as drones or hovering helicopters, and engage infantry at ranges of more than 2,500 m.
TOXO is a modular equipment package that allows existing tracked or wheeled vehicles to be converted into UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) platforms or systems for MUM-T (Manned-Unmanned Teaming). The package makes it possible to acquire heavy unmanned platforms cheaply and relatively quickly by using older crewed chassis, without the need to build them from scratch.
The main capabilities of the TOXO package include teleoperation through remote control with elements of autonomy, such as route following, leader-follower driving, obstacle avoidance, return to a designated route and waypoint patrol modes. It can be integrated with modern C4ISR command systems, sensors and weapons, as well as a drive-by-wire electronic control system.
The TOXO package consists of a radar, a LiDAR laser imaging sensor, a GNSS satellite navigation antenna, a radio communications antenna, a front camera with 90- and 120-degree fields of view, side cameras with a 90-degree field of view, and additional front lighting.
Source: S2M Equipment via Linkedin
