QinetiQ establishes service and support centre for Talon robots in Australia

QinetiQ, a leading international defence and security technology business, has unveiled plans to establish a service and support centre for its Talonâ„¢ robots in Sydney, Australia in conjunction with its in-country representative, Pacific Security and Environmental Solutions (PSES) Pty. QinetiQ's Talon robots are manufactured in North America and are being sold in ever increasing numbers around the world - there are already over 1000 Talons in-theatre.

Part of the plan will be for PSES to hold a stock of Talon spare parts in its Sydney warehouse and provide technical support, service repairs and overnight shipment of components as required. PSES' engineers already have specific Talon technical and operational expertise, thereby helping to ensure sustainment of capability.

Talon robots are a family of powerful, durable, lightweight remotely operated tracked vehicles that enable the operator to be positioned up to a kilometre away from the danger point. Talon's are widely used for Explosive Ordinance (bomb) Disposal (EOD), reconnaissance, communications, sensing, security, defence and rescue operations. They have all-weather, day/night capabilities and can navigate virtually any type of terrain. The flexibility of the Talon architecture facilitates straight forward integration of sensors and accessories making it a highly versatile platform and one which requires a low logistic footprint.

"As the Talon customer base continues to grow, we will need to provide our customers with a corresponding level of service and support across the globe," explained Chrys Stevenson, a UK business Development Director for QinetiQ."Australia is an ideal location and with our colleagues at PSES, we have an ideal set up."

Bomb disposal robots are increasingly being used by the military in their battle to safely render harmless Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's). They can perform most of the dangerous tasks required but without placing people in direct danger. The modular design of the Talon means that any damaged parts can be easily swapped in the field thereby minimising robot down-time. There are even in-theatre Talon ‘hospitals' that can generally get a battle damaged robot back operational and into service in a just a few hours.

Steve Crocker, a director at PSES concluded; "The Talon robot is proven to save soldiers' lives and I am delighted that we are now equipped to offer full service and support to our Australian Forces when required."

Talon key characteristics:-

* Man-portable: At less than 100 lb (45 kg), Talon can be easily transported and is instantly ready for operation
* Rugged: Talon robots can take a punch and stay in the fight
* Fast: Talon is one of the fastest robots on the market today with seven speed settings
* High payload capacity: Long-term system versatility optimises investment
* Talon has the highest payload capacity and payload-to-weight ratio, allowing for the incorporation of a broad array of sensor packages
* Mobile: Climbs stairs, negotiates rock piles, overcomes concertina wire, ploughs through snow and surf and can right itself
* Intuitive: Widely regarded by users as amongst the easiest robot to operate; joystick controls
* Can be controlled by RF or fibre optic link from an attaché-sized operator control unit (OCU) or wearable OCU - the Talon is widely regarded by the users community as being amongst the easiest robot to operate particularly in a hostile environment
* Withstands repeated decontamination: Demonstrated at Ground Zero after 2001 World Trade Center attack in New York City. Electronics withstood 45 straight days of being decontaminated twice a day without failing
* Long battery life: Talon robots have the longest battery life of all man-portable robots.

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