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EOD Robotics Program Receives Approval for Full-Rate Production

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050622-07
Release Date: 6/22/2005 11:43:00 AM

From Program Executive Office, Littoral and Mine Warfare

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Building on recent success, the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Program Office has passed another major milestone with the recent approval for full-rate production of the Man Transportable Robotic System (MTRS) May 31.

Rear Adm. William E. Landay III, Program Executive Office (PEO), Littoral and Mine Warfare, convened an Acquisition Review Board of the MTRS and approved the program to proceed to full-rate production. MTRS is a Joint Service EOD program that fulfills the need for EOD technicians to be able to remotely perform EOD tasks at hazardous incident sites.

“This approval represents a significant step forward for the EOD robotics program,” said Cmdr. Scott Stuart, EOD program manager. “The MTRS program meets warfighters’ objectives, as defined by the Joint Service EOD community, for additional capabilities to defeat the threats posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and other hazards.”

The MTRS is a modified commercial, two-man portable system consisting of a robotic vehicle, which includes a manipulator and imaging sensors, and a control station. In full-rate production, the MTRS program will produce two robot variants - Foster-Miller, Inc.’s Talon IV and iRobot’s PackBot EOD. The robots are procured under indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts funded by multiple service sponsors. Current inventory objectives are: U.S. Army - 461 systems, U.S. Marine Corps - 205, U.S. Navy - 154 and U.S. Air Force - 140, for a total of 960 systems.

In the field, Talon and PackBot MTRS units are equipped with a variety of sensors and tools to perform reconnaissance of danger areas and suspected IEDs. Robots also disrupt and disable unexploded ordnance (UXO) and IEDs. In the event of an explosion, the robotic vehicle is positioned to take the damage that a human operator would face. These robots are now being used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last year, the EOD Program Office successfully met the U.S. Central Command’s (USCENTCOM) requirements for small robotic systems to defeat the burgeoning IED threat in Afghanistan and Iraq. The MTRS program complements small EOD robotic systems already procured for USCENTCOM, in response to urgent requirements.

MTRS meets long-term, worldwide military EOD needs for small robotic platforms to perform remote recon in urban and rural environments on missions involving unexploded ordnance and IEDs. The modular nature of the MTRS facilitates field maintenance and upgrades through the addition of EOD tools and sensors.

Program Managment Office NAVSEA (PMS) EOD provides a variety of technologies, such as the Mk 3 Remote Ordnance Neutralization System, a larger unmanned ground robotic system that performs reconnaissance, access, render-safe and disposal tasks; standoff disrupters to address UXO and IEDs from a safe distance; and small caliber disrupters to render safe small threat targets such as firing devices, landmines and booby traps. The EOD Program Office also is a member of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Robotics program, which focuses and coordinates the development of robotic technologies and systems.

PMS EOD is one of eight programs under the management of the Program Executive Office, Littoral and Mine Warfare. With a diverse portfolio of more than 200 products and services, the PEO Littoral and Mine Warfare delivers materiel solutions that assure persistent, pervasive and sustained access to the littoral battlespace.

The Naval EOD Technology Division in Indian Head, Md., serves as the design agent and in-service engineering agent for the MTRS program.