BAE Systems lands $38M to help build mini spy robots

BAE Systems Inc. has landed a $38 million contract to lead a team of scientists developing miniature robots intended to improve military battlefield intelligence, according to officials.

Work will be performed at BAE's Merrimack, N.H. facility. The defense contractor signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead a team of researchers from the Army, academia and industry called the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance.

MAST consists of four primary research areas: BAE Systems will lead microsystems integration, the University of Michigan will lead microelectronics, the University of Maryland will lead microsystem mechanics, and the University of Pennsylvania will lead processing for autonomous operation. The alliance plans to develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and terrain such as mountains and caves. The goal is to create an autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places inaccessible or dangerous for humans, BAE officials said.

Content Continues Below

The agreement is planned to last five years with an option to extend for an additional five years.

Last week, BAE Systems landed an $8.5 million contract from the Pentagon to develop a mobile military communications network designed to protect against cyber attacks. Two weeks ago, Aurora Flight Sciences reported it would partner with BAE Systems and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory under a DARPA project developing a surveillance aircraft that can stay in the air for five years continuously.

BAE Systems is the U.S. subsidiary of United Kingdom-based BAE Systems plc (LON: BA), and is headquartered in Rockville, Md. BAE Systems plc employs 97,500 people worldwide.