British army's bomb disposal team take delivery of life saving robots

LONDON - The British Army has taken delivery of the first of its fleet of cutting edge bomb disposal units, replacing wheelbarrow-type devices troops have used for more than 45 years.

The unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), equipped with high-definition cameras, an adjustable manipulation arm and tough all-terrain treads, will become a familiar site on the streets of Britain as well as on battlefields.

The robots will allow army bomb disposal teams to neutralise a wide range of explosive threats. The delivery of the four robots are part of a 70-million-US dollars contract for 56 robots.

The game-changing platforms endured a variety of tests during an eight-week acceptance' trials period at sites in Britain and the US specifically chosen to put the robots through their paces.

The Ministry of Defense (MOD) said the robots were pushed to their limits by trials including multi-terrain driving, a series of battlefield missions, weightlifting and dexterity tasks, climatic and vibration testing, high stress capabilities, live-firings, maximum traversing angles and interoperability assessments.

Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "These robots will go on to be an essential piece of kit, preventing harm to innocent civilians and the brave operators who make explosives safe.

"The robots will provide the army with the latest bomb-disposal technology and will prove to be trusted companions both on UK streets and in deadly conflict zones."

Col Zac Scott, who heads the military bomb disposal branch, said: "Remote Control Vehicles are critical to the safe conduct of Explosive Ordnance Disposal tasks."

He said the new Harris T7 robots harness cutting-edge technology to provide EOD operators with unprecedented levels of mobility and dexterity. It represents a step-change in capability for our service personnel and it will save lives."

The program is designed to replace the army's fleet of Wheelbarrow Mk8B remote-controlled EOD robots which have been used across the world by UK Armed Forces since 1972.

All 56 robots are due to be delivered to the British military, and be in service by December 2020.