'Time' Magazine Recognizes Weaponized TALON Robot as one of the 'Most Amazing Inventions of 2004' The weaponized version of Foster-Miller’s TALON™ robot has been recognized as one of the most amazing inventions of 2004 by “Time” magazine in its Nov. 29 edition. This is what 'Time' said: "Insurgents, be afraid. An armed, unmanned ground vehicle that never gets tired, hungry or scared is headed your way. The Sword has night and thermal vision, four cameras and a 7.62-mm machine gun. It can clim ...

ARMED DRONES ROLLING TO IRAQ December 1, 2004 Defense Tech Hunting for guerillas, handling roadside bombs, crawling across the caves and crumbling towns of Afghanistan and Iraq -- all of that was just a start. Now, the U.S. Army's squad of robotic vehicles is being prepped for a new set of assignments. And this time, they'll be carrying guns. As soon as March or April, eighteen Talon robots armed with automatic weapons are scheduled to report for duty in Iraq, as part of the Army's Stryker ...

Armed Land Robots Program Continues March 21, 2005 Defense Industry Daily United Defense L.P. of Santa Clara, CA (soon to be part of BAE Systems), received a $3 million increment as part of a $30.9 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development of an armed robotic vehicle (ARV) platform. The ARV is an unmanned, 5-ton vehicle controlled remotely by a dismounted operator or by one located in a Manned Ground Vehicle. The ARV-RSTA variant will provide Reconnaissance, Surveillan ...

More Robot Grunts Ready for Duty More Robot Grunts Ready for Duty Dec. 01, 2004 By Noah Shachtman Wired News ORLANDO, Florida -- Hunting for guerillas, handling roadside bombs, crawling across the caves and crumbling towns of Afghanistan and Iraq -- all of that was just a start. Now, the Army is prepping its squad of robotic vehicles for a new set of assignments. And this time, they'll be carrying guns. As early as March or April, 18 units of the Talon -- a model armed with automatic w ...

With an improved Technical Program, and keynote speakers addressing the delegates about topics which will provide insight to the demanding offshore environment and the need for innovative solutions and how to improve existing technologies, OC 2005 promises to be bigger and better than ever. OC 2005 - A New Era Offshore On November 1, 2005, the only conference dedicated to offshore communications will take place in Houston—Offshore Communications 2005. Once again, the conference will be support ...

Robotic Bomb Squads On Rush Order March 2, 2005 Defense Industry Daily The Naval Sea Systems Command, Indian Head Division at Indian Head, MD has issued a pair of emergency 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(2) orders for robotic Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) systems. iRobot of Burlington, MA won an $18.3M firm-fixed-price contract (N00174-05-C-0012) for its PackBot EOD and associated spare parts, based on two proposals solicited and two proposals received. Foster-Miller Inc. of Waltham, MA is being award ...

The Evolution of Warfare March 31, 2005 By Michael Kan Daily News Editor Packing an M249 machine gun and laced in camouflage treads what may be the next caliber of U.S. soldier. But at roughly three feet tall, with night vision embedded in its mechanical eyes and a battery life of around four hours, the military’s newest recruit comes not from the ordinary military training camp but off the technological assembly line. Originally slated for deployment in Iraq this month, but postponed to ...

US Army Arms EOD Robot Jan. 26, 2006 EDefense Online A modified version of a US Army robot that's used to thwart improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan and Iraq now packs a punch of its own. The 3-foot-tall robot, known by the acronym SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Remote Direct-Action System), can be seen at the Washington Auto Show at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. The show started on Jan. 25 and runs through Jan. 29, and the robot is part of an Army ex ...

USAF WANTS KILLER DRONES ASAP February 1, 2005 Defense Tech Air Force leaders want a new squadron of killer drones, and soon. So the generals are ready to spend $161 million to get the new robots and their weapons right away. According to an Air Force document obtained by Defense Tech, the service is taking millions out of its maintennance budget for this fiscal year, and putting the money instead into 15 new Predator MQ-1 unmanned planes. The added cash will allow production of the drones ...

Now he runs his company with like-minded warriors. Recently appointed CEO David Smith was president and chief operating officer of SenSyTech Inc, a publicly traded high-tech defence organisation. David Smith signed a contract with Dragonfly Pictures Incorporated (DPI) in June 2005, and reported to shareholders and the public on the Metal Storm website that the contract “will be the first opportunity for Metal Storm to conduct live airborne test firings and one of the first tests of its kind util ...