Posted: 06/29/2009
QinetiQ Lands $56.4M Contract to Sell Talon to Navy
Surface Naval Warfare Center plans to use ROVs to expand its anti-IED and explosive ordnance disposal capabilities.
The company formerly known as Foster-Miller, Inc. has announced a $56.4 million contract to supply Talon remote-operated vehicles to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, which will use them for bomb disposal.
The contract is for Talon Gen IV robots, parts, spare kits and related parts and service on a non-time-limited contracted. The announcement from Technology Solutions Group (TSG), which was known as Foster-Miller, Inc. until it was acquired by U.K.-based QinetiQ in 2004, said the company expects to finish the contract in early 2010.
The U.S. Army, Navy and other services have been testing and deploying Talons since they were released in 2000. Currently more than 2,800 are in service, according to TSG, though that figure includes both military and civilian uses.
Talon is a general-purpose, dual-tracked unmanned ground vehicle that can be configured with cameras and a variety of graspers for a variety of specific jobs, including work on unexploded improvised explosive devices (IED), hazardous material identification and disposal, armed reconnaissance and other uses.
The company announced last week that it had added microphones and speakers to Talon so remote operators could hear what was going on in the robot’s vicinity and talk back to those near it at checkpoints, or in hostage negotiations.
