A team of Boeing and iRobot has received a contract from the US Air Force to provide small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGV) to its explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team.

Under the contract, the team will develop 70 models of 310 SUGV robots for the air force.

The SUGV robots have been designed to provide warfighters real-time awareness of critical situations and to allow them to complete missions from safe stand-off distances.

The robots can carry out mission, including EOD, route clearance and reconnaissance.

Boeing will provide programme management, contracts and quality-control support, while iRobot will provide engineering, manufacturing, training and logistics services.