Navy awards iRobot contract modification for bomb-disposal unmanned ground vehicles
INDIAN HEAD, Md., 15 March 2013. U.S. Navy robotics experts are making another order to iRobot Corp. in Bedford, Mass., for bomb-disposal unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to help Navy and Marine Corps. explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians detect, identify, and disable explosives from safe distances.
The Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division in Indian Head, Md., announced a $28.8 million contract modification to iRobot Friday for Man Transportable Robotic Systems (MTRSs), as well as depot-level repair, spare parts, and training.
The MTRS is a small robotic vehicle used by Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians to conduct remote reconnaissance, render safe, and/or dispose of explosive devices.
Since 2009 iRobot has won several Navy contracts for the MTRS, which is modeled after the iRobot PackBot 500 with electronic ordnance disposal kit. The original agreement was a $13.5 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract in 2009.
Since then iRobot has won Navy contracts 2010, 2011, and 2012 for Man-Transportable Robotic Systems. On the latest contract iRobot will do the work in Bedford, Mass., and will be finished in April 2014.
For more information contact iRobot online at www.irobot.com, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division at www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/indianhead.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
