Foster-Miller Awarded $33.7 Million for TALON Robots, Spares
14 August 2006 09:52
Foster-Miller, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded $33.7 million worth of orders by the Naval Air Systems Command on behalf of the Robotic Systems Joint Program Office (RSJPO) to deliver approximately 50 more TALON® EOD robots, 125 of its new TALON Engineer robots, and more than 5,000 spare parts to Iraq and Afghanistan for work related to the detection and neutralization of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This means that more than 50 percent of the $63.9 million IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity) contract Foster-Miller originally announced in May has now been funded.
TALON robots, first used to dispose of live grenades in Bosnia in 2000, went into Afghanistan with Special Forces in February 2001 and are still used there for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). TALON's went into Iraq with American troops in March 2003 and have become a crucial tool in the ongoing battle to defeat IEDs and save American and Iraqi lives.
This contract has expanded TALON's mission beyond EOD to now include the newly configured "Engineer" model designed for use by Combat Engineers who need a durable, rugged robot to investigate suspicious objects in Iraq and Afghanistan and determine whether or not they are IED's.
"This expanding use of robotics on the battlefield would not be possible without the heroic efforts of the RSJPO personnel and their creation of in-theater 'robot hospitals' that mean damaged TALON robots can be repaired and put back into service in less than four hours," said Dr. William Ribich, President and CEO of Foster-Miller. "These incredibly dedicated and skillful soldiers combine usable parts of bomb-damaged robots with new spare parts and put a workable TALON back in the field in the shortest amount of time possible."
The next step in the evolution of robots on the battlefield will be the introduction of the TALON SWORDS armed robot so that soldiers will be able to engage the enemy without being seen.
For more information on this company:
Foster-Miller - TALON Robots for Nuclear / Chemical Detection, EOD, IED, Weaponization and Reconnaissance
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