WALTHAM, Mass., 8 Sept. 2005. Foster-Miller Inc. in Waltham, Mass., won a $96.1 million contract modification to provide an additional 250 to 1,200 Man Transportable Robotic System (MTRS) production units.
The increase in production quantity is due to the urgent and compelling need for units that are forward deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) statement.
The contract, announced Sept. 7, comes from the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command Indian Head Division in Indian Head, Md. The original contract number is N00174-03-D-0002.
The contract modification increases the number of production units under the MTRS contract from 250 to 1,200, and adjusts unit prices as stipulated in the original contract.
The MTRS is a small robotic system used for remote reconnaissance of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices.
The MTRS will provide the military explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technician with a man transportable capability to remotely perform reconnaissance during extremely hazardous EOD missions involving unexploded ordnance (UXO) and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The MTRS, which will be able to operate in urban and rural environments, will be a modular system that will allow interoperability with future mission packages such as chemical and nuclear detectors, EOD render safe tools, EOD disruption tools, and EOD disposal tools.
The system architecture (of the MTRS will be expandable and inherently upgradeable to allow for future enhancements.
Work will be in Waltham, Mass., and will be finished in October 2012.
