Kobra heavy UGV chosen by U.S. Army
NewsNovember 19, 2019
WASHINGTON. The U.S. Army announced it has chosen the Kobra robot made by FLIR Systems Inc. for the heavy version of its Common Robotic System. The track-mounted vehicles are used for explosive ordnance disposal and other heavy-lifting duties. The contract is valued at up to $109 million for the five-year production run.
According to the company, the Kobra can lift up to 330 pounds, stretch to nearly 12 feet in height, and fold down for storage and transportation.
The vehicle is part of the ground robotics industry, a category ready to undergo transformation as the Army begins competitions to define its upcoming unmanned ground systems fleet in an effort to mitigate the dangers of explosive devices often found on Middle Eastern battlegrounds.
With the FLIR contract, the Army has indicated a preferred model of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), using a small number of common platforms in which parts, sensors, and other systems can be replaced easily and maneuvered by a common controller.
