U.S. military forces have about 70 ground robots on bomb disposal duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is rushing an additional 163 robotic systems worth $18 million to the troublespots. The small tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) are being used successfully in both conflicts to handle Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Unexploded Ordnance Removal (UXO), Improvised Explosive Device (IED) neutralization, force protection, combat engineering and physical security tasks. The dangerous chores have included handling IEDs that threaten ground convoys. Meantime, the tactical robots are searching caves, tunnels and other concealed areas where insurgents may be hiding. Cliff Hudson, the Pentagon's Joint Robotics Program (JRP) Coordinator, says the U.S. Defense Department is buying a mix of ground robots from five firms. They include Canada's Vanguard Mark Ⅱ EOD robot, Foster Miller's Talon, iRobot's Packbot, Mesa Associates' Matilda and REMOTEC's Mini-ANDROS Ⅱ hazardous-duty mobile robot.
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