The USMC has announced that it will buy 140 Centaur unmanned ground vehicles. (FLIR Systems)
The US Marine Corps (USMC) is buying more than 140 Centaur unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) under a new contract with FLIR Systems for USD18.6 million.
The service announced the new contract on 3 April as part of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc II) programme. UGV deliveries are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2020.
The Centaur platform was designed to provide a stand-off capability to detect, identify, and dispose of hazmat (hazardous materials), and the USMC said it will use the unmanned vehicle to help disarm improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordnance, and other hazardous tasks.
“Centaur gives the marines a multipurpose, mid-sized UGV that will complement the FLIR PackBot, SUGV [small UGV], and FirstLook robots we continue to provide to the corps,” David Ray, president of the Government & Defense Technologies business at FLIR, said in a statement.
The medium-sized vehicle weighs 74 kg, can be deployed in under five minutes for up to eight hours at a time, reach speeds of up to 6.5 km/h, and breach obstacles up to 26.7 cm in height. Centaur uses a five-degrees of freedom manipulator arm, one that can reach up to 1.9 m above the ground, to disarm threats.
Additionally, various cameras can be incorporated into the platform including visual, near infrared, and long wavelength infrared, to help recognise people within a 300 m range in low ambient light and night environments, and up to 600 m in the day.
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