Jane's: Army wants to accelerate iRobot SUGV

Jane's Defence reports that the Army wants to acclerate the FCS SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) made by iRobot and the FCS UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) made by other companies, citing Boeing, the lead contractor on the Future Combat Systems program, as the source of the information. Key clip:

"Boeing FCS programme manager Dennis Muilenburg confirmed that the army leadership has directed the FCS programme office to accelerate the Class I unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), both of which are being developed as part of the FCS family of unmanned systems.
"There's clearly high interest in fielding some of the robotic capabilities as soon as possible," he said.
Early versions of the SUGV are in theatre today in the form of the Packbot: a lightweight, portable ground robot made by iRobot. ...
Muilenburg said soldier feedback "has been very positive" on both systems. "They take on some of the dirty, dangerous missions - and also improve situational awareness for soldiers," he said.

I'll note that this isn't exactly "news" per se; we've been noting for months reports from various sources including directly from iRobot conference calls that the Army has been seeking to accelerate the SUGV, and that delivery of an early version will be ready to ship in volume by mid-2008 and drive revenue growth for the company.
Here is the link. (Thx, byronangel)