US Navy awards $56.4M TALON robot contract to QinetiQ North America

QinetiQ North America, makers of the leading TALON® family of military/first-responder robots, announced today that it has received a $56.4 million IDIQ (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity) contract for purchase and delivery of TALON GEN IV robots, repair parts, spare kits, and other related equipment and services from the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head, MD, for the Naval EOD Technical Division (NAVEODTECHDIV), the single-service manager for all EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) equipment. Work will be performed by the Technology Solutions Group and is expected to be completed in early 2010.

"Once again, we thank the U.S. Navy for its continued support of our robotics programs," said Dr. William Ribich, president of QinetiQ North America's Technology Solutions Group. "Robots help protect our warfighters, a fact that is demonstrated every day when a robot accomplishes a dangerous assignment while the warfighter controls it from a safe distance."

Since TALON's initial deployment in 2000, the QinetiQ North America family of robots has expanded to include smaller (Dragon Runnerâ„¢ SUGV) and larger unmanned vehicles (MAARS®) that can be configured for specific tasks, such as IED defeat, route clearance, CBRNE/hazmat identification, reconnaissance, armed reconnaissance, checkpoint security, combat engineering support and SWAT/MP unit assistance. Today, more than 2,800 TALON robots are deployed around the world, surpassing any other military robot.