Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The British army accepted the first four of 56 bomb disposal robots it ordered from Harris Corporation, the U.K. government announced.
The T7 ground vehicles, manufactured by Florida-based Harris, are equipped with high-definition cameras, data links, an adjustable manipulation arm, and tank-like all-terrain treads. They also employ "haptic feedback," which recreates the sense of the robot's touch and gives an operator a better understanding of the object being diffused. They also offer vibrations when wires or other elements of the bomb are touched by the robot, to guide the operator.
In a statement earlier this week, the British government referred to the vehicles as "game-changing" and said they are able to "neutralize a wide range of explosive threats."
The $70.8 million contract indicates each robot will cost about $1.2 million.
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Britain began using remote bomb disposal units in the 1970s when dealing with improvised explosive devices in Northern Ireland. The army's first robot was developed in 1972. Known as a Wheelbarrow, advanced versions are still in use by the British military, and will be phased out with the arrival of the T7 unit.
Nearly 80 percent of the British army's casualties in its Afghanistan campaign have been attributed to improvised explosives.
"The first four production standard vehicles have been delivered early to the British Army enabling us to conduct train-the-trainer packages from January onwards," said Lt. Col. Thornton Daryl Hirst. He added that trials of the robots "exceeded our performance expectations."
The remaining 56 robots are expected to be delivered and in service by the end of 2020.
