Recon Robotics revealed that the US Army Rapid Equipping Force and United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) have awarded a series of contracts for delivering 385 Recon Scout XT micro-robot kits.
The Recon Scout XT micro-robot protects dismounted soldiers by providing immediate situational awareness within dangerous environments. Soldiers can throw the 1.2 lb XT over a wall or through a window, and then maneuver the ultra-quiet robot throughout a structure to reveal the layout of rooms, the presence of IEDs and the location of friendly, indigenous or enemy personnel. Credit: ReconRobotics
Apart from delivering the Scout, Recon is required to deliver Recon Scout SearchStick devices that are used by warfighters to convert a Recon Scout Throwbot to a pole camera. The order is scheduled for delivery by the 30th of August 2011.
Ernest Langdon, the director of Military Programs at Recon Robotics, explained that the Army considered the micro-robots as an important part of the gear to take on their missions. He added that the robots provide instant visual reconnaissance without being a burden for the US Special troops and dismounted fire teams. The new military contracts reiterate the importance of having personal micro-robots that are deployed at fire-teams in the ratio of one robot for every four to six member team. So far the armed forces have deployed Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles (SUGVs) which weigh 30 to 40 lbs, on counter-IED missions at company level.
As many as 2,000 Recon Scout Throwbot systems have been deployed by the US army and other international friendly forces so far. At the global level many law enforcement agencies have deployed the robots. The Recon Scout XT weighs only 1.2 lbs and can be thrown up to 120 feet. It takes only five seconds to deploy the Scout. The miniature Recon Scout is a personal device which the soldiers can use for their protection. It provides them with extremely good situational awareness at standoff distance. In case of dismounted missions where the soldiers are exposed to IEDs, the Recon Scout provides them with internal layout of the enclosed spaces by identifying location of IEDs and helping in fixing location of personnel before making entry.