Unmanned ground vehicle

U.S. Navy bomb disposal experts are beefing-up their inventory of unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) robots that are designed to detect, pinpoint, and neutralize improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other roadside bomb threats.

The MK2 MTRS from QinetiQ is one of several MTRS designs that provides stand-off capability to detect, identify, and dispose of IEDs and related hazards using an unmanned ground vehicle equipped with special IED-disposal payloads.

The MTRS provides the ability to locate, identify, and clear land mines, unexploded ordnance, and IEDs in the path of maneuvering Army or Joint forces.

The QinetiQ TALON unmanned ground vehicle will help U.S. and allied warfighters detect, locate, and neutralized improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The QinetiQ version of the MTRS is based on the company’s TALON tracked unmanned ground vehicle. These lightweight vehicles are designed for IED and explosive ordnance disposal, reconnaissance, communications, countering chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) threats, security, heavy lift, defense, and rescue missions.

Talons can move as fast as six miles per hour, are transportable by one person, work in bad weather and rugged terrain, and have high payload capacity and payload-to-weight ratios. The TALON V provides 16 I/O ports including Interoperability Profile (IOP) A and B connectors; has JAUS AS4-compliant software; supports plug and play discovery of IOP devices; offers a variety of high-definition and standard-definition camera options in addition to an optional, dual-purpose thermal/daytime zoom camera; has a heavy-lift multiple-degree-of-freedom arm manipulator; and supports a variety of third-party and legacy TALON manipulators.