iRobot SUGV accelerated by Army; 25 robots to be delivered for testing by April

iRobot has issued a press release officially announcing the acceleration of the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) program, which is critical to iRobot's future growth prospects. Some 25 SUGV units will be delivered by April for testing (I'd guess roughly $2.5-4 million worth?) with a "production decision" expected by September 2008. The initial SUGV units will be "transitioned" to the fully Future Combat Systems-network-capable SUGV at some point in the future. This would effectively move up the SUGV by several years from the Army's initial plans, which is the opposite of how things normally work in defense procurement, where delays are common. iRobot has previously noted that the Army has seen a potential for 80 SUGVs per combat brigade, or thousands of units in total. Also of note, the SUGV will NOT replace sales of the PackBot bomb-defusing robots, which are built primarily for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams. Instead, it will supplement EOD sales. There is an open question, however, of whether moving to the SUGV will supplant the $286 million contract iRobot recently won for infantry robots, which would be filled with the PackBot with FasTac kit. It's quite possible that the Army could allow much of that contract to go unfilled and replace it with a new SUGV contract with iRobot.

Note that iRobot is the exclusive maker of the SUGV at this stage, having been selected as the Future Combat Systems supplier and as part of the FCS team years ago.

Also of note, as we posted previously, Defense News posted details of the acceleration last week.

Here is the press release:

Press Release Source: iRobot Corp.

U.S Army Accelerates Testing of iRobot's Future Combat Systems Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle
Thursday January 17, 12:00 pm ET
Soldiers to Begin Robot Field Exercises in May 2008

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ:IRBT - News) today announced that the U.S. Army has accelerated its testing schedules for iRobot’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) robot development program. The updated plan calls for iRobot to deliver a total of 25 FCS SUGV robots by April 2008. The Army Evaluation Task Force (AETF) will begin evaluation and testing of the robots in May 2008. This effort is intended to provide an early capability of SUGV to soldiers in the field. The SUGV Systems Development and Demonstration program will continue to mature the SUGV with its full network capability.

The initial soldier evaluations will determine the capabilities and limitations of the SUGV platform. These evaluations will support the Army’s production decision, which is expected in September 2008. FCS will procure a select number of these early SUGV units and then transition to the full network-capable SUGV as scheduled by the FCS program.

“We continue to receive a tremendous amount of positive feedback from soldiers in theater that iRobot PackBot is an essential tool for ensuring mission readiness and improving situational awareness to keep soldiers out of harm’s way,” said Vice Admiral Joseph Dyer (U.S. Navy, Ret.), president of iRobot’s Government & Industrial Robots division. “We see this acceleration as clear evidence of the U.S. Army’s recognition of the critical role robots play in arming soldiers with the best intelligence and combat options to provide clear advantage on the battlefield.”

FCS SUGV is a tactical reconnaissance robot designed to assist soldiers in obtaining intelligence in dangerous or otherwise inaccessible areas. Modeled after the combat-proven iRobot PackBot, the SUGV offers multiple video sensors for real-time day/night tactical situational awareness. At just 30 pounds, SUGV’s portability, modularity and agility make it an essential component of the individual soldier’s gear in the integrated FCS program.

iRobot is currently under contract agreement to develop the next-generation SUGV for the FCS program with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), which serves as the FCS Lead Systems Integrator with Boeing. This decision marks the first significant delivery of SUGVs to military customers.

To date, iRobot has delivered more than 1,200 PackBot robots to a broad range of military and civilian customers worldwide.