AEODRS Inc 2 set for EMD phase

1st September 2015 - 13:30 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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The US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has approved Milestone B for the Advance Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robotic System (AEODRS) Increment 2 tactical operations variant. This clears the Increment 2 variant to move on to the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

The AEODRS programme involves the development of a new interoperable EOD robotic systems family. It uses government-owned common architecture for common logical, electrical and physical interfaces across the family of unmanned ground vehicle systems.

Increment 2 is a medium-sized robotic system that must be transportable by an EOD response vehicle and capable of being carried by two technicians for a moderate distance. The main mission of the tactical operations variant is in-depth reconnaissance and wide-range item prosecution. This system will replace the Man Transportable Robotic System that entered full-rate production in 2005.

Increment 1 is a dismounted operations system and the smallest variant. It is a reconnaissance-focused system that must be light enough to be transported in a backpack. Increment 3 is a base/infrastructure operations variant and the largest in the family. It must be transportable by a large-response vehicle or trailer, and its primary missions include wide-range EOD neutralisation, maximum load/lift capabilities and other special capabilities.

Capt Aaron Peters, program manager, expeditionary missions program office, NAVSEA, said: 'Through the adoption of this modular, open architecture approach across all three increments we will be better able to integrate emergent technologies and improve overall capability of EOD warfighters.'