NORTHROP GRUMMAN TO BUILD BACK-PACKABLE UGS

In September, the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology division in Indian Head, MD, announced a $14.2 million Northrop Grumman contract to build open-systems man packable ground robots that will neutralize improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The unrelated Remotec Andros UGS shown, is an example of a larger anti-IED robot currently marketed by Northrop Grumman. This brings Northrop Grumman squarely into a market that already includes companies such as iRobot and The Machine Lab, and it is another sign of the exploding robotics industry.