The United States Army, Air Force, and Navy have collectively ordered more than 250 additional FLIR Centaur UGVs from FLIR Systems Inc., worth $32 million combined.
The award is being sourced through the Army’s Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc. II) program.
“We’re tremendously honored that EOD teams across America’s military are relying on our Centaur robot to help them perform dangerous missions with greater stand-off capability,” says Tom Frost, VP and general manager for Unmanned Ground Systems in the Unmanned and Integrated Solutions business at FLIR.
Defense
Defense
Weekend Roundup: November 13, 2020
This Week in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Scientific Systems Company Inc. (SSCI) has demonstrated a team made up of a fully autonomous UAS and a search and rescue canine working together without intervention from a human handler to conduct a simulated search and rescue mission. During the demonstration, SSCI's newly developed Teammate Aware Autonomy (TAA) system was used together with its Collaborative Mission Autonomy (CMA) and Finding Objects thru Closed Loop Understanding of the Scene (FOCUS) software. (PRNewswire)
Martin UAV, SOUTHCOM successfully complete counter narcotics operations demo
In support of United States Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) counter narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific, Martin UAV successfully demonstrated the shipboard integration of its V-BAT UAS, as well as its maritime capabilities, from Oct. 6, 2019 to July 31, 2020.
Support for the mission included the highly visible Enhanced Counter Narcotics Operations, which began on April 1, and was kicked off by the President of the United States.
RE2 Robotics receives $1.1 million in funding to develop mobile robotic manipulation system for U.S. Army
RE2 Robotics has received $1.1 million in Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) to develop a mobile robotic manipulation system that will allow combat medics to remotely assess and extract injured soldiers on the battlefield.
Known as Autonomous Casualty Extraction (ACE), the program will utilize RE2 Robotics’ dual-arm Highly Dexterous Manipulation System (HDMS) mounted to a FLIR Kobra UGV from FLIR Systems Inc., to autonomously locate a casualty in the field.
Elistair's new Orion 2 UAS provides round-the-clock surveillance for up to 24 hours at a time
Tethered drone solutions provider Elistair has announced the development of its new Orion 2 tethered UAS for military, government, and industry users.
Described as a “true persistent surveillance platform,” the Orion 2 hexacopter delivers round-the-clock surveillance for up to 24 hours at a time.
“Small, unmanned multi-rotor systems are great if you want a hover-and-stare capability, but they’re also notoriously short on battery life,” says Timothée Penet, CTO and co-founder of Elistair.
BAE Systems awarded multiple contracts to develop key tech for Army's A-Team program
The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems multiple contracts to develop key technologies for its Advanced Teaming Demonstration Program (A-Team).
BAE Systems was the only company awarded contracts for three of the program’s four focus areas, which are designed to advance manned and unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities that are expected to be important components in the U.S. Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.
The U.S. Army developed the A-Team program to create an automated system to offload the cognitive burden of pilots while allowing them to command swarms of UAS, all in an effort to combat the increasingly complex, contested, and communication-denied battlespace presented by near-peer adversaries.
Milrem Robotics demonstrates THeMIS UGV to Italian Army
This week, Milrem Robotics demonstrated its autonomous THeMIS UGV to the Italian Army. The company also launched a new program to assess and analyze the implementation of intelligent systems into the army’s doctrine.
Weekend Roundup: October 30, 2020
This Week (and last week) in the Unmanned Systems and Robotics World
Australian Defence Force (ADF) Academy has announced that in August, it received two Mk6 UGVs. According to private Jacob Joseph, the academy received the vehicles after undergoing testing at Exercise Talisman Sabre. (Army Technology)
General Dynamics Mission Systems awarded $13.5 million contract for Knifefish SMCM UUV
General Dynamics Mission Systems was recently awarded a $13.5 million cost-plus fixed-fee and cost-only modification to continue its engineering support, development, test, and production of the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasure (SMCM) UUV.
A modification to the original contract, this award brings the post-milestone C phase of the effort to $62.1 million since Sept. 2019.
A medium class mine countermeasure UUV, Knifefish SMCM is designed to be deployed from the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship and other Navy vessels of opportunity. The UUV will operate within minefields as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays outside the minefield boundaries to reduce risk to personnel.
FLIR Systems awarded $26 million contract modification in support of NBCRV SSU program for U.S. Army
In support of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle Sensor Suite Upgrade (NBCRV SSU) program for the U.S. Army, FLIR Systems has been awarded a $26 million contract modification.
As a follow-on to a $48 million contract announced in April 2019, the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement was awarded through the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND).
