A subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies announced this week an order from the Pentagon for nearly 500 more Centaur robots.
The order received by Teledyne Flir Defense was valued at $62 million. The company is owned by Teledyne Technologies, the Thousand Oaks aerospace, marine and digital imaging products manufacturer.
Deliveries of the Centaur unmanned ground systems are expected to begin to the U.S. Army and Navy in the first quarter of next year.
The robot is used by explosive ordinance disposal teams to disable unexploded bombs, improvised explosive devices, landmines and other similar dangerous tasks, according to Teledyne.
Operators can quickly attach different sensors and payloads to the robot to address other missions, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, the release said.
Tom Frost, general manager of unmanned ground systems at Teledyne Flir Defense, said that the Centaur robot has proven itself as one of the most versatile and sought after tactical unmanned ground vehicles to support America’s military.
“Centaur also can be used effectively for (unexploded ordinance) clearance in hotspots such as Ukraine, and with global security threats on the rise, allied nations can leverage this multi-purpose robot to support a wide array of manned/unmanned operations,” Frost said in a statement.
The Centaur is a medium-sized robot that provides a standoff capability to detect, confirm, identify, and dispose of hazards. Weighing roughly 160 pounds, the robot features an advanced camera suite, a manipulator arm that reaches over six feet, and the ability to climb stairs, Teledyne said.
The announcement of the order was made on Thursday. Shares of Teledyne (TDY) closed down 70 cents, or a fraction of one percent, to $384.16 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, a day when the Dow Jones industrial average also closed down a fraction of one percent.