The Foster-Miller TALON is a remotely operated, tracked

military robot Military robots are autonomous robots or remote-controlled mobile robots designed for military applications, from transport to search & rescue and attack. Some such systems are currently in use, and many are under development. The difference b ...

designed for missions ranging from

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

. It is made by the American robotics company QinetiQ-NA, a subsidiary of

QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

Overview

Foster-Miller Foster-Miller, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ, is an United States, American-based military robotics manufacturer. Its two best-known products are its Foster-Miller_TALON, TALON robots and its LAST Armor. Founded and based in Waltham ...

claims the TALON is one of the fastest robots in production, one that can travel through sand, water, and snow, as well as climb stairs. The TALON transmits in color, black and white,

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

, and/or

night vision Night vision is the ability to see in low-light conditions, either naturally with scotopic vision or through a night-vision device. Night vision requires both sufficient spectral range and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night v ...

to its operator who may be up to about away. It can run off

lithium-ion batteries A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy ...

for a maximum of seven days on standby before needing to recharge. It has an 8.5-hour battery life at normal operating speeds, two standard lead batteries providing two hours each, and one optional lithium ion providing an additional 4.57 hours. It can withstand repeated decontamination, allowing it to work for extended periods of time in contaminated areas. It was used at

Ground Zero A hypocenter or hypocentre (), also called ground zero or surface zero, is the point on the Earth's surface directly below a nuclear explosion, meteor air burst, or other mid-air explosion. In seismology, the hypocenter of an earthquake is its p ...

after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, working for 45 days under contaminated conditions without electronic failure. This led to the further development of the HAZMAT TALON. It weighs less than , or for the reconnaissance version. Its cargo bay can accommodate a variety of sensor payloads. The robot is controlled through a

two-way radio A two-way radio is a radio transceiver (a radio that can both transmit and receive radio waves), which is used for bidirectional person-to-person voice communication with other users with similar radios, in contrast to a broadcast receiver, whi ...

or fiber-optic link from a portable or wearable Operator Control Unit ( OCU) that provides continuous data and video feedback for precise vehicle positioning. Regular (IED/EOD) TALON: Carries

sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

s and a robotic manipulator, which are used by the U.S. military for

explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

and disarming

improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

. Special Operations TALON (SOTALON): Does not have the robotic arm manipulator but carries day/night color

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

s and listening devices; lighter due to the absence of the arm, for reconnaissance missions. SWORDS TALON: For small arms combat and guard roles. Evaluated in December 2003 in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

prior to deployment in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. HAZMAT TALON: Uses

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

, gas,

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

, and

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

sensors that are displayed in real-time to the user on a hand-held display unit. It is now being evaluated by the US Armament Research Development and Engineering Centre ( ARDEC). C-TALON is an unmanned robot designed to be used in both land and water environments. It is specifically designed for turbulent water environments, coastal waters, and limited access harbors. It has high-resolution imaging sonar, among other key features. The robot costs approximately $6,000,000 in its standard form.

was subsequently bought out by

, a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

military developer.

SWORDS

SWORDS, or the Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System, is a weaponized version of the robot that is being developed by Foster-Miller for the US Army. The robot is composed of a weapons system mounted on the standard TALON

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

. The current price of one unit is $230,000; however, Foster-Miller claims that when it enters mass production the price may drop to between $150,000 and $180,000. There are a variety of different weapons which can be placed on the SWORDS, which include the

M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...

, 5.56 mm SAW M249, 7.62mm M240 machine gun, .50 Cal M82 Barrett rifle, six barreled 40 mm

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...

and quad 66mm M202A1 FLASH incendiary weapon. SWORDS units are not autonomous, but instead controlled by a soldier using a small console to remotely control the robot. Foster-Miller are currently at work on a "

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

" style controller with virtual-reality headsets for future operators. In 2007, three SWORDS units were deployed to Iraq. The units were each armed with an M249 machine gun. This deployment marked the first instance of robots carrying guns into battle; however, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

never gave authorization to use them so the weapons were not used in combat. The Army stopped funding the SWORDS robots after deploying the initial three robots. Foster-Miller is working on a successor: the Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System (MAARS). By August 2013, the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

had acquired a SWORDS robot for its collection. One is also on display at the National Infantry Museum in

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Deployment

The Talon has been deployed in military service since 2000 - for example, in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

for the movement of

munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...

and EOD (

) to dispose of

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s. It was also used at

after the September 11th attacks in search and recovery. It is the only robot used in this effort that did not require any major repair. Foster-Miller claims the Talon was used for a classified mission by US Special Forces in the war against the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, as well as in an EOD role. In

, its standard role has been performing EOD and IED destruction missions. Its combat SWORDS version is now being used there as a guard protecting front line buildings from attack. According to Foster-Miller, the robot has performed around 20,000 EOD missions in the conflicts in

and

. As of late 2014, the US army was refurbishing 353 Talon IV robots, with 296 going to Army engineers and 57 to the

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

.US Army Works Toward Single Ground Robot
- Defensenews.com, 15 November 2014

References

External links

Article about the SWORD robot

Foster-Miller's Talon Home

Mobile Armed Dismount Support System (MADSS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster-Miller Talon 2000s robots Robots of the United Kingdom Tracked robots Unmanned ground combat vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 2000s

Overview

SWORDS

Deployment

See also

References

External links