iRobot awarded 11th Packbot order

BEDFORD, Mass., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has placed a new order with iRobot Corp. for an additional delivery of the company's robotic explosive ordnance disposal technologies.

Massachusetts-based iRobot says the Army has placed its 11th order under its Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract for the delivery of 14 additional PackBot 510 with FasTac Kit robots.

The IDIQ contract, originally from Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation, has been moved to the Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Contracting Center.

Under the $5.1 million order, iRobot will deliver its widely deployed PackBot 510 with FasTac Kit robots along with additional manipulator arms and cameras among other spare parts supporting ordnance disposal.

"One of the reasons these robots are so important is that they have the ability to perform the role of point man on the battlefield," Joe Dyer, iRobot Government and Industrial Robots president, said in a statement.

"Warfighters can send the robot into a potentially dangerous area first. This gives them the opportunity to assess the situation from a safe place and allows more time to make decisions accordingly. This is particularly important as the threat from roadside bombs continues to rise in Afghanistan."