Boeing and iRobot team delivers 1st SUGVs to US Air Force

31st January 2011 - 16:45 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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The Boeing Company and partner iRobot Corp. today announced that they have delivered the first 30 Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles (SUGV) under a contract with the US Air Force for the service's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team. This is the first task order of an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract which runs through September 2012.

"We are pleased to work with iRobot to enable Air Force EOD technicians to perform reconnaissance while reducing their exposure to unexploded ordnance," said Mike Huddleston, Robotics program manager for Boeing Network & Tactical Systems.

"Unmanned ground vehicles have been saving lives for years on asymmetric battlefields," said Robert Moses, president of iRobot's Government and Industrial Robots division. "SUGV represents an important advancement in UGV technology because of its light weight and state-of-the-art capabilities. It gives warfighters the ability to deploy the robot at a moment's notice when faced with a variety of dangerous missions."

Boeing and iRobot developed the SUGV family of vehicles under a strategic alliance that began in 2007. The robot is designed to give warfighters real-time awareness of critical situations and allow them to complete missions from safe standoff distances. SUGV is ideal for a variety of mission types, including EOD, route clearance and reconnaissance. As the prime contractor, Boeing provides program management, contracts, and quality-control support from offices in Huntsville. iRobot is responsible for engineering, design, manufacturing, training and logistics services, with the majority of work conducted in Bedford, Mass.

Source: Boeing

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