The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded a contract to QinetiQ to supply combat-proven Talon robots for route clearance operations in Afghanistan.

As part of the British Army’s Talisman programme, the company will also provide repair and spare parts, training and logistics support.

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Talisman is an advanced weapon to help the army fight and diffuse improvised explosive devices (IED) and mines.

The counter-IED weapon is a suite of vehicles that provides an integrated route proving and clearance capability. It has been delivered to UK forces in Afghanistan as an urgent operational requirement worth over £180m ($270m).

The Talisman system comprises a range of vehicles including the Mastiff protected patrol vehicle, a Buffalo mine-protected vehicle, a JCB high-mobility engineer excavator and a T-Hawk micro air vehicle.

Defence Equipment and Support Combat Wheels Group head Patrick Beazley said Talisman had been designed as a flexible manoeuvre support capability that could be quickly configured for different missions.

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The Talon robots to be delivered under the recent contract will join the 100 Dragon Runners robots delivered to theatre last year.

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