Laykka demonstrates AI-driven friend-or-foe identification
At a Finnish Defence Forces media demonstration in Parola, the Laykka AMPGV autonomously distinguished a friendly CV90 from an enemy BMP-2 with 99% accuracy.
In early December 2022, the Finnish Defence Forces invited media to Parola for a public technology demonstration of the Laykka Autonomous Multi-Purpose Ground Vehicle (AMPGV). The event was covered by both Tivi and Reserviläinen, two of Finland's leading defence and technology publications.
What the demonstration showed
A friendly CV90 infantry fighting vehicle moved into a new position along a forest track, followed by an enemy BMP-2. A camouflaged Laykka, equipped with multiple sensors, observed both. By comparing the vehicles' signatures against its onboard threat library, the AI recognised the friendly vehicle and ignored it. When the BMP-2 came into range, Laykka autonomously accelerated underneath it and triggered a training version of an anti-tank mine.
Nothing actually exploded; this was a controlled demonstration of the autonomy and sensor pipeline. The point was to show that the system could reliably distinguish friend from foe without operator intervention. (Source: Reserviläinen, December 2022.)
99% recognition accuracy
According to the project team in Parola, Laykka's current build can already distinguish between BMP and CV90 vehicles with roughly 99% confidence. The pipeline combines visual pattern recognition and acoustic signature analysis, and the team noted that camouflage techniques such as branches do not significantly impact the recognition rate (Reserviläinen, 2022).
A research and development platform
The team behind Laykka is careful to emphasise its current status: Laykka is a development platform, not yet a fielded weapon system. The Finnish National Defence University (MPKK) studies the platform together with the University of Turku and JAMK University of Applied Sciences. The Turku team in particular has worked on multi-sensor machine learning methods for environmental perception (Andersson, Doria thesis, 2022).
“The cadets reported that it caused panic, because the device was very hard to stop and very hard to detect. Usually, by the time you noticed it, it was already too late.”
— Capt. Christian Andersson, project lead, in Tivi (10 December 2022)
Why this matters
Tying AI capabilities to a working physical platform is the core value of the Laykka project. The demonstration in Parola was not about a finished product. It was a milestone showing that an autonomous, expendable, low-cost UGV can be a credible component in modern ground operations, while keeping a human operator in the loop for engagement decisions.
Sources
Tivi: "Suomalainen sotilasrobotti osoitti tehokkuutensa" (10 December 2022). Reserviläinen: "Laykka testaa tekoälyä taistelussa" by Tero Tuominen. Christian Andersson, "Laykka-AMPGV:n inkrementaalinen kehitysprosessi" (Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu, 2022) at doria.fi.