BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- iRobot Corp. of Massachusetts and the U.S. Army have finalized an Increment 1 production purchase contract for small unmanned ground vehicles.
Under the Brigade Combat Team Modernization contract, iRobot will deliver 45 SUGVs as part of the Army's low-rate initial production contract for the first brigade set of BCTM Increment 1 capabilities for a firm fixed-price value of $13.9 million.
To date, 30 SUGVs have been delivered, with 15 to be delivered this month. The purchase contract also includes training, field service support and spares.
"We are pleased to be delivering these SUGVs so that the Army can continue its verification testing for the BCTM program," said Robert Moses, president of iRobot's Government and Industrial Robots division. "Unmanned ground vehicles have proven their worth on the battlefield and we believe that SUGV is an incredibly important piece of technology for the Army moving forward."
SUGV is a smaller and lighter version of the combat-proven PackBot. It is designed to give warfighters real-time awareness of critical situations and to allow them to complete missions from safe distances. It is ideal for dangerous reconnaissance missions such as entering buildings, caves and tunnels, the company said.
iRobot and Boeing developed the SUGV family of vehicles under a strategic alliance that began in 2007 as part of the Army's BCTM program.
