FLIR Systems has received more than $70 million from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps in new orders for its Centaur UGV (unmanned ground vehicle). The new orders encompass nearly 600 of the UGVs, as well as additional spares, antennas, and payload mounting kits. The U.S. Army has also awarded FLIR a contract increase for its Man Transportable Robot System Increment II (MTRS Inc. II) program.
The FLIR Centaur UGV is used by Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams to assist in disarming landmines, unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices, and similar dangerous tasks. Operators can quickly attach different sensors and payloads to the robot to address other missions, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats.
The medium-sized UGV provides a standoff capability to detect, confirm, identify, and dispose of hazards. Weighing roughly 160 pounds, the IOP-compliant robot features an advanced EO/IR camera suite, a manipulator arm that reaches over six feet, and the ability to climb stairs.
The U.S. Army previously chose Centaur as its MTRS Inc. II solution for a multi-year program of record, and other U.S. military branches have opted to deploy Centaur to their EOD units as a new or replacement ground robot system. Since early last year, FLIR has announced orders totaling more than $170 million for over 1,300 Centaurs from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corp.
Tom Frost, FLIR’s VP of Unmanned and Integrated Solutions, commented: “The strong demand for this multi-purpose robot shows how well unmanned technology can support EOD teams across our military, enabling them to do their job more safely and effectively. We take enormous pride knowing Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines rely on the Centaur UGV to perform hazardous missions around the world every day.”
“Given the platform’s versatility and commonality across U.S. defense forces, we see a future where our close allies can leverage this same technology to enable combined operations.”
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