Army to buy TALON unmanned ground vehicles from QinetiQ for military robotic applications
WARREN, Mich., 7 May 2010. The U.S. Army needed tracked unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD); reconnaissance; communications; handling hazardous materials like chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives; security; defense; and rescue. They found their solution from QinetiQ North America in Waltham, Mass.
The Army awarded QinetiQ ,a $15.2 million contract May 3 for TALON powerful, durable, lightweight tracked robotic vehicles and sustainment parts. Awarding the contract were officials of the Army Tank Automotive Command (TACOM) Contracting Center in Warren, Mich.
TALON military robots have all-weather, day/night capabilities and can navigate most kinds of terrain. The man-portable TALON unmanned vehicle weighs about 115 pounds, is fast enough to keep pace with a running soldier, and is able to climb stairs, negotiate rock piles, overcome concertina wire, and plow through snow.
The robot also has sufficient payload capacity to handle a broad array of sensor packages; it can mount as many as four color cameras -- including night vision sensors, thermal cameras, and visible-light zoom options.
TALON robots are extremely rugged, QinetiQ officials say. One was blown off the roof of a Humvee in Iraq while the Humvee was crossing a bridge over a river. TALON flew off the bridge and into the river, yet soldiers later used its operator control unit to drive the submerged UGV up onto the bank so they could retrieve it, company officials say.
For more information contact QinetiQ North America online at www.qinetiq-na.com, or TACOM at www.tacom.army.mil.
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.
