US Army looks for a few good robots, sparks industry battle

The U.S. Army is looking for a few good robots.

These robots aren’t taking up arms, but the companies making them have waged a different kind of battle. At stake is a contract worth almost half a billion dollars for 3,000 backpack-sized robots that can defuse bombs and scout enemy positions.

The Army’s immediate plans alone envision a new fleet of 5,000 ground robots of varying sizes and levels of autonomy. The Marines, Navy and Air Force are making similar investments.

Concerns that popular commercial drones made by Chinese company DJI could be vulnerable to spying led the Army to ban their use by soldiers in 2017 .

The China fears came to a head in a bitter competition between Israeli firm Roboteam and Massachusetts-based Endeavor Robotics over a series of major contracts to build the Army’s next generation of ground robots.

A third $100 million contract – won by Endeavor in late 2017 – is for a midsized reconnaissance and bomb-disabling robot nicknamed the Centaur.

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Article source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/International/2018/Dec-28/472845-army-looks-for-a-few-good-robots-sparks-industry-battle.ashx