Boeing-iRobot Team Receives New SUGV Task Order from US Army

The order calls for 94 new model 310 SUGV robots, plus spares, for a total value of $14.6 million

(Huntsville, Ala., July 27, 2010) -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and partner iRobot Corp. [NASDAQ: IRBT] today announced that they have received a new task order to an existing contract to provide Small Unmanned Ground Vehicles (SUGV) to the U.S. Army. The order calls for 94 new model 310 SUGV robots, plus spares, for a total value of $14.6 million.

This order, the contract's fifth, brings the total units ordered by the U.S. government to 323. The existing Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract will run through February.

"Boeing and iRobot are pleased to be working with our customers to provide this life-saving technology in response to urgent warfighter needs," said Bob DaLee, Robotics program manager for Boeing Network & Tactical Systems. "The 35-pound 310 SUGV system provides the dismounted Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician with the ability to perform reconnaissance during extremely hazardous EOD missions involving unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices."

"Robots have played an important role on the battlefield for years now, and their numbers in theater are growing," said Joe Dyer, president of iRobot's Government and Industrial Robots division. "Warfighters can carry and quickly deploy the SUGV at a moment's notice, which is crucial in challenging environments such as Afghanistan. These robots are saving lives every day."

Boeing and iRobot developed the SUGV family of vehicles under a strategic alliance that began in 2007. SUGV is a smaller and lighter version of the combat-proven PackBot. It is designed to give warfighters real-time awareness of critical situations and to allow them to complete missions from safe standoff distances. It is ideal for a variety of mission types, including EOD, route clearance and reconnaissance. As the prime contractor, Boeing provides program management, contracts, government-test support and quality-control support from offices in Huntsville. iRobot is responsible for engineering, government-test support, manufacturing, training and logistics services, with the majority of work conducted in Bedford, Mass.

"The SUGV can increase the safety of U.S. and allied warfighters in uncertain situations," said William Boggs, director of Boeing Global Forces & Robotics Systems. "We will continue working with our customer not only to provide these valuable assets, but also to continue to refine them so the SUGV we deliver tomorrow has even more capability than the one we deliver today."

Source : The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) - click here for more information