“Robot hospitals” in Iraq and Afghanistan fix TALON robots damaged by defusing or destroying IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and put them back into service within four hours. They are staffed by Army, Marine and Navy maintenance and repair technicians whose mission is to get TALONs back into the hands of troops by rebuilding them with a combination of replacement parts and usable parts scavenged from other damaged TALON robots.

“The insurgents have been intensifying their attacks on the robots because they know if they can disable the robot, the soldiers will have to go out and defuse the IED themselves,” says Dr. William Ribich, President and CEO of Foster-Miller. “The personnel in the robot hospitals step up to every fresh challenge and do whatever it takes to meet their four-hour turnaround time.”

Foster-Miller currently has two IDIQ contracts with the Navy for TALON robots and replacement parts. The Navy is the central procurement entity that buys robots for all branches of the service. Last week, Foster-Miller announced the release of another $22.8 million from its nine-year, $257 million IDIQ from the Navy Explosive Ordnance Technology Division (NAVEODTECHDIV) for more TALON robots and replacement parts for the EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) teams working in Iraq and Afghanistan.

About Foster-Miller
Foster-Miller, Inc. is an engineering, manufacturing and technology development firm principally located in suburban Boston, MA on Rte. 95, “America’s Technology Highway.” It is certified to Aerospace Quality Management Standard AS9100 and has SW-CMM Level 3 software certification from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Foster-Miller was founded in 1956 by three graduates of MIT who believed there was a need for a company that could solve clients’ difficult technical problems through first-class analysis and design. In November 2004, it became an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ North America (QNA).